


No Ordinary Love

by My_Dixon_Narratives



Category: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Genre: Adult Content, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-16 10:38:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 36,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Dixon_Narratives/pseuds/My_Dixon_Narratives
Summary: Merle meets a woman like no other person he's even met one night and takes her home. Merle lives with his brother Daryl and it doesn't take long before they discover a mutual attraction between all three of them. Entering into an alternative relationship causes some issues in town and when Lisbeth's past comes back to haunt her she must decide if she'll run or try to stay with the men that mean so much to her.





	1. Meet in the Middle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KrissyG927](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrissyG927/gifts).



> This story is mainly based on the character of Lisbeth portrayed in the movie directed by David Fincher. I have read all of the books in The Millenium Trilogy, but there is far too much plot to incorporate it into a story like this so I do have some relevant details of her past but nothing too in depth. This is my first crossover story, so I hope people enjoy it and allow me a little latitude in terms of presentation.  
> This is a very sexually experimental story and involves polyamory and lesbian sex and even a little experimentation between the Dixon brothers. If any of these elements are not your thing, then I'd recommend skipping this one:)  
> The song in Chapter One is 'My Boy My Town' by Mabel *all of the songs I put in stories add to the story I believe so if you wanted to listen to them on youtube or iTunes it will give you an idea of the tone I was going for:)  
> Thanks for reading.xoxox  
> Teagan

_Straight up_  
_Tell me everything you've been through_  
_Since I've been away, sure enough_  
_You've got every little thing going on for you_  
_So how come we can't connect_  
_How quickly you forget_  
_Straight up_  
_Tell me everything you've been through_  
  
_Let's meet in the middle, cause we both want a little bit more_  
_If I waste what you're giving then I won't forgive it_  
_You'll leave me just wanting it all_  
_Let's meet in the middle_  
_Halfway in the middle_  
_Let's meet in the middle_  
_Halfway in the middle_  


 

 

 

* * *

 

 

_ **Chapter 1 - Meet in the Middle** _

The small town bar was crowded on that Thursday in July, and Lisbeth drifted in like a ghost, having spent the last 4 hours hitchhiking with a shady man in a semi trailer. Her eyes had never left the man for even a second; there were no chances taken when her radar was triggered. She had a large carry-on bag over her shoulder but nothing more to her name in the whole world. Nothing except a couple million dollars hidden in the lining of the bag, but that was her little secret.

She would get to spending it soon enough, but she was fresh off an international flight and felt more comfortable drifting at the moment. She’d flown to the last place in the world anyone would look for her: Toccoa, Georgia, a place, chosen at random, from a 5-minute internet search.

Thankful to be in one piece, physically anyway, she headed straight to the bar and slid a fifty across to the bartender. Lisbeth's heart was deeply damaged, but she was still inexplicably craving sexual contact, and thus she was on the prowl.

“Scotch, three fingers and do not stop until I say so.”

Lisbeth lit a cigarette and spun around on her barstool to survey the situation. She was a fugitive for now and spending time in the US simply out of curiosity. She couldn’t return to Sweden; the heat was still on, and Mikael had run back to his married girlfriend.

There were cowboys everywhere and blue collar working men, but her eyes settled on a certain man in coveralls and a baseball cap. He looked filthy and rough as hell like he’d been working for a month straight without a shower. Something about his eyes looked kind, though, and she was pulled into his orbit.

Dirty is what she was craving; she felt dirty herself. She downed her drink and nodded to the bartender who raised his eyebrows then poured another scotch.

Lisbeth approached the man in the cap and hoped he wasn’t a hick who'd shy away from her facial piercings and choppy black hair. She was no ‘Southern Bell,' but she liked to think she had her own unique appeal; Mikael had thought so, however momentarily. Finding 'company' had never been a problem back home but, this was America.

“Yeah?” the man asked, looking down at her with a frown of confusion like maybe he should recognize her.

“Can I buy you a drink?” she asked in her typical toneless voice.

“Huh?”

Apparently, her accent was thicker than he was accustomed to and the music was loud. The name on his coveralls said ‘Merle, ' and she found it to be amusingly fitting given the location.

“Do women not buy drinks for men around here?” she pressed, already getting annoyed. She just wanted to get laid, and he was being difficult.

“No, they don’t. No woman has ever bought me a drink before.”

“Maybe it’s a night for first times then,” she said dryly. “What are you drinking?”

He held up his beer bottle to her, and she nodded her head, returning a moment later with the drink in her hand from the bar.

/

Merle was baffled and looking around the place like he was on candid camera.

“Do you know me?” he asked, trying to figure out why she was speaking to him.

“I don’t know you, but I’d like to, at least for tonight. Are you taken?”

It was like she was placing an order, so casual and yet alluring. The woman was skinny and had short black hair, tattoos, and piercings…he’d never seen a girl like her in town.

“I’m single. Are you saying…do you wanna? What are you saying?” he stumbled.

“I’m saying I’d like to go somewhere to be alone and fuck you.”

“Jesus!”

Merle had never in all his life heard a woman say such a thing. He looked around the bar at the other men in the running, and he didn’t get it. They were dressed nicer than he was and had at least showered; it had to be some kind of joke. He took a sip of the drink she’d bought for him and looked down at her skeptically; she already looked impatient.

“Well?” she pressed.

“I just got off of work an hour ago; I’m all sweaty and dirty.”

“Just tell me that you don’t want me, I’m not going to cry," she answered dispassionately. 

She was already looking around at other options, but he wanted her then, it felt like he might even need her then.

“Wait a minute,” he sputtered, reaching out his hand to get her attention. “I’m good, just lemme take ya back to my place so I can wash up a bit first.”

“Fine,” she nodded without smiling.

“What’s your name?” he asked when he realized they had just arranged to fuck, but that he didn’t even know what to call her.

“Lisbeth.”

“Where are you from, Lisbeth? I know you ain't from here.”

“Sweden.”

“Why are you in the US?”

“I just am. You ready?”

He took another long sip of his drink and grinned at her; he was starting to believe she really meant it.

“You need another drink?” she asked in a monotone voice.

“No, I’m good.”

Merle normally went for really feminine looking women: long hair, pretty makeup, and dresses but something about this woman and her frank manner of speaking was getting him hard already. She had tight, ripped up black jeans and a black t-shirt that looked like she’d bought it in the 80s, it was washed out and torn with actual holes in it. He didn’t understand why, but she was getting to him in a powerful way, and he wanted her. He could already tell that she was a paradox of raw, unpolished aggression and fragility and he wanted to figure her out if he could.

Merle got up and walked toward the door, and she followed behind him silently. When they got to his truck he didn’t know what the hell to do so he opened the door for her, and she got in and lit another cigarette. Her large leather bag looked heavy, but she appeared to be possessive or protective of it, so he didn’t offer to carry it.

“I gotta say, this is the strangest thing to ever happen to me,” he began, trying to break the ice a little. "I'm not the kind of guy who gets approached like this."

Lisbeth didn’t answer him, she just moved her hand across the seat toward his thigh and touched him. She didn’t want to have the conversation about how odd it was. She knew it was odd, but she just couldn’t do intimacy at the moment, not after Mikael. All Lisbeth wanted was physical contact and to jolt herself out of her heartache, she needed something new and different if at all possible.

She tightened her grip a little just above his knee and then slid closer to him across the bench seat of the truck.

His breathing changed, and she slithered right up close to whisper into his ear.

“Do not question this too much and you’ll enjoy it…I promise.”

She licked his salty neck once, and he hissed and gripped the steering wheel tight. Her little hand cupped his dick through his coveralls, and he swerved a few inches to the right.

Out of nowhere, she made a soft sound that was close to a chuckle, and he grinned over at her.

“Been a while for me I guess,” he admitted.

“It’s like riding a bicycle,” she answered.

He liked the sound of her accent; it was exotic and sexy.

Finally, they pulled up outside his crappy little house, and he hoped like hell it would go off without a hitch. He rarely had a woman to bring home like Daryl did, and he was getting so excited he could hardly contain it.

 

 

 

 


	2. Nothing's Gonna Hurt You, Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that some of you haven't seen 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' so Lisbeth may seem like an odd character and honestly she is. She is a very quiet, deep-thinking, spontaneous, highly-intelligent, heroic but damaged woman. She is computer hacker and investigator with a very troubled past.  
> Here is a basic outline of the story told in that movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/synopsis  
> (I only use basic plot points involving her directly so it's not necessary to know the whole thing. Basically, at this point in her storyline, she is on the run after taking millions from a very bad person. She is looking for somewhere to hide out because she has all of this stolen money and has just had her heart broken by Mikael Blomkvist.

_Whispered something in your ear_

_It was a perverted thing to say_

_But I said it anyway_

_Made you smile and look away_

  


_Nothing's gonna hurt you, baby_

_As long as you're with me, you'll be just fine_

_Nothing's gonna hurt you, baby_

_Nothing's gonna take you from my side_

  


* * *

  


**_Chapter 2 – Nothing's Gonna Hurt You, Baby_ **

Lisbeth followed Merle into the house and watched as he turned on a lamp in the front room. He offered her a seat and then told her he was going to take a quick shower. Merle was awkward when it came to casual sex, but the least he could do was be clean for her. He offered her a drink, and she accepted with a nod.

"Thanks."

She sat on the couch and continued to smoke her cigarette and took a sip of the beer he'd handed her. To him, she looked like she was brimming with fascinating stories, but also like she'd sooner die than tell you any of them. Merle tried to imagine himself having sex with her and was having trouble really picturing it; he'd never so much as kissed a woman like her. It left him wondering what a woman like Lisbeth liked in bed and if it was anything he'd be good at.

/

Lisbeth watched as he unzipped his coveralls and headed to the bathroom to shower. He looked good to her, and by the feel of his package in the truck, he was well endowed. The night was sure to be a good one as long as he didn't try anything violent with her, that would end up in him being very sorry indeed.

This man, ‘Merle,' seemed harmless and sweet but still very virile. By now she was an excellent judge of character; unfortunately, her life had made that necessary.

Lisbeth leaned back against the couch and blew a steady stream of smoke into the air and then was startled by the sound of a door opening somewhere in the house.

Footsteps drew closer, and she looked to her right to see a man eyeing her suspiciously.

"Hey, who are you?"

"I'm here with Merle."

"Merle?"

"Surely he lives here, he's in the shower," she said with no expression.

"Yeah, of course."

"You seemed confused."

"No, it's just that he doesn't pick women up usually."

"He didn't pick me up; I picked him up."

Merle walked back into the living room a moment later and looked even better to her now that he was clean and wearing a fresh white undershirt and a pair of jeans.

"I didn't think you'd be home tonight. This is Lisbeth," Merle began.

Daryl raised his eyebrows at the unusual looking woman his brother had brought home; there was something about her he kinda liked.

/

They all wound up having a few drinks in the front room since it was still early in the evening. Lisbeth seemed immune to alcohol considering her small stature and stayed steady as a stone in her thinking.

"Where are you from?" Daryl asked her.

"Sweden."

"Long way from home," he noted.

"Yes."

Lisbeth liked the look of these men, and she could tell they were opposites in spirit. Merle was steady and easier to read with a quiet virility. Daryl was more intense, passionate and unpredictable. Lisbeth would bet money that she had them both pegged correctly. Something told her to try for an evening with them both; it could be the jolt that she needed to forget Mikael. They might be the cure. She took the last sip of her beer and then said she needed the lady's room.

"Sure thing," Merle smiled.

Before leaving the room, she bent down to whisper into his ear, and he froze stiff at her words as she walked away.

"What the hell did she say?" Daryl asked since he'd never seen such an expression on Merle's face before.

"She…she said she'll have us both if we're up for it."

"Get the fuck outta town!" Daryl laughed and then slowly stopped. "Seriously?"

Merle nodded, still stone-faced.

"You ever done that?" Daryl asked.

"Of course not! What do I look like, a fuckin' hippie or something?"

"Relax, man. You better think of an answer cause she'll be outta there in no time."

"What do you mean ‘think of an answer'? The answer is hell no!" Merle exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down.

Daryl just looked down the hall to the bathroom door. This strange new woman had his full attention.

"Are you thinkin' about it?" Merle asked.

Daryl shrugged, he'd gotten up to this kind of thing before at parties when he was a little younger, but Merle was more conservative when it came to sex.

"Why not? It's been forever since you had a woman."

"Yeah, but have you done this kind of thing before?" Merle asked.

"Yeah…Merle, it's not that big a deal."

Merle got up and paced the floor for a second trying to imagine fucking a woman in front of his brother. He looked down at Daryl who seemed totally chill about the whole thing and found himself feeling like an innocent little virgin.

"I don't even know nothing about this kinda thing, man!"

"It ain't rocket science, Merle."

"Jesus! I've fallen down the fuckin' rabbit hole."

"Relax, ya Puritan!" Daryl insisted when he heard the bathroom door open. "Seriously, Merle, you might like it...and if you don't, you can always stop."

"Jesus...you think?"

"Yeah, live a little for once, brother. It'll make a good story someday at least," Daryl laughed.

Merle sighed and held his hand to his forehead as

Lisbeth re-entered the room and looked at them both casually.

"Have you decided?"

"Yeah, sounds good to us," Daryl nodded.

"Good."

Merle just stood there wondering how such a weird night had gotten even weirder.

Lisbeth approached him first and leaned in to kiss the side of his neck. He shuddered at her touch and didn't know where to put his hands. She set all of his senses alight, and he didn't know how to respond when he felt her hands on his chest.

"Sit," she whispered, pushing him back to sit down on a big soft chair in the corner.

"Jesus..." he answered as she stood before him and pulled her ripped black T-shirt over her head.

Daryl knew how these things worked enough to know that he had a chance to have a smoke and a beer while they got things started. He sat back on the couch and tried not to snicker at poor Merle being thrown in at the deep end.

Lisbeth sank down into Merle's lap, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, hunching her up close to his body.

In no time Merle was removing her bra one-handed behind her back, and Daryl nodded in approval, it was a decent move. Merle was kissing her furiously, like he'd just been let out of prison, and Daryl felt bad that he hadn't dragged him out more to meet someone, it was obvious that he'd been desperate for it by the way he was devouring Lisbeth. It had been over a year since Merle and Andrea broke up and he was still hurting over it most of the time.

Lisbeth writhed on Merle's lap in only her black jeans and Daryl took a moment to appreciate the ink on her back. A large foreboding dragon took up a large portion of her pale, white skin and it suited her. She was mysterious, beautiful and dangerous, Daryl could tell that much right off the bat.

"Holy hell," Merle uttered when he noticed her pierced nipples. "Don't that hurt?"

"No," she answered, pulling his mouth to her breasts and moaning when he started to lick at the piercing through her skin.

She pulled Merle's undershirt over his head and took a brief second to look back at Daryl. That was his cue, and he was getting antsy to touch her. He got up and walked slowly closer, trying not to freak Merle out too much.

He lay his hand on her back and then let it drift up to her shoulder before he kissed her neck. She reached up to hold him behind his head, and Merle touched her breasts, trying to keep his head in the game.

Lisbeth leaned in then for a moment just to kiss Merle's lips and pay him some specific attention.

"Will you take me to your bed?" she breathed.

"Yeah," he panted, picking her up and carrying her the few feet to his room next to Daryl's.

He lay her on the bed and kissed her just like he would with a girlfriend, he didn't know any different.

Soon Daryl was lying next to her and kissing the other side of her neck, and she had her hands on both of them. The night was only just beginning, but all three of them could feel the electricity in the air and the perfection of the trinity.

  


  


  


  


  


 


	3. Her Rare Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisbeth loves the control she is wielding over them both (this is a woman who has spent much of her life in a powerless state and mainly because of men) so when she asks them to do what she does at the end of this chapter (you'll see) it's partly because she wants to see it and partly to see if they will do it.  
> If you are extremely offended by male on male then I wouldn't worry because it goes no further than kissing and fairly innocent touching. There is some hardcore female on female later, though;) It's all in the tags so I hope nobody jumps ship:)  
> This story is very sexual but there will be a lot of emotional things as well, this is just the jumping off point for all of the things that follow.  
> The song in this chapter is called 'Tell Me' by Bros.

_Help me; I've come to grips with what's gonna be_  
_I can't get past those old fashioned ways_  
_Your dark brown hips, and that ass for days_  
_I've said it before, now try it just a little now_

  
_(I want you)_  
_I've got to tell you_  
_(I need you)_  
_Girl, I love you_  
_(I want you)_  
_I've got to tell you_  
_(I love you)_  
_This hell I'm going through_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 3 – Her Rare Smile** _

Daryl moved in close to touch Lisbeth through her tight black jeans, and she moaned into Merle’s neck, transferring the pleasure to him. Merle was on fire, she felt so right next to him, Daryl or no Daryl.

Lisbeth reached down and pushed her hand inside Merle's jeans and growled under her breath with need.

“Take them off,” she uttered.

This was the first time she’d sounded remotely vulnerable or soft, and it drove both brothers crazy. Merle's hands moved to his belt, and he hesitated for a moment, wondering what the hell he was doing. Daryl hadn't seen his dick since they were kids in the boy scouts; no other grown man had ever seen him naked before.

“He doesn’t care; he has a dick too," she insisted.

Merle sighed heavily, and soon he was undressed and sliding himself between her legs. He sucked at her breasts again, letting the cool metal of her piercings slide over his tongue. He loved the smooth sensation of the sterling silver and couldn't wait to see where else she was pierced.He thrust against her through the tight black jeans, and she wrapped her legs around him.

Daryl waited for his turn patiently, but he could feel the agony of wanting her begin to burn him alive.

Within a matter of minutes, Lisbeth rolled over and crawled toward Daryl, undoing his jeans and yanking them down with a strength that surprised him. She kissed down Daryl's chest and edged closer and closer to his throbbing cock. This woman was sexy as fuck, and Daryl wanted her mouth on him so badly that he was just about ready to beg for it.

Merle needed her naked, so he reached around her body to get her jeans off. He was feeling more comfortable with the situation as the minutes passed, the tension was so high, and it didn't matter anymore that Daryl was there. Merle just wanted Lisbeth, and he couldn't care less now if Daryl was involved.

Lisbeth took Daryl into her mouth, and he held his hand to his forehead and hissed. He could feel her tongue stud moving up and down the shaft of his dick; it was rapturous torture like he'd never known.

“Oh Christ, that's good!”

She sucked in a smooth, rapid rhythm that left him feeling like her plaything and he loved it.

Next Merle’s hand crept up the back of her thigh, and she moaned with Daryl’s dick nearing the back of her throat.

Daryl was sat halfway up and leaning against the headboard and Lisbeth was on her knees driving him wild as Merle started to peel her panties down her legs with her eager cooperation.

/

Lisbeth felt Merle's fingers teasing her lips and then sliding inside her, but so slowly that the sensation was teasing her senseless.

These men were gentle and let her control the entire affair; these men were different than most she’d known in her life. Any man who used violence or the threat of violence against her wouldn't live to speak of it, but she knew already that it wasn’t an issue with either of them.

Daryl lay his hand on her shoulder, and she knew he was tapping out to avoid cumming, so she rolled onto her back.

Merle took the first chance he had to bow down and begin a descent of kisses toward her pleasure center.

"Can I taste you, Lisbeth?" Merle asked, and she almost began to mistrust how sweet he seemed. Could a grown man really be equal parts masculine and gentle?

"Yes," she answered softly.

"I wanna make you feel so good," he moaned as his mouth made the first contact with her pussy.

Merle was so up front; there was no pretense or head games; he was exactly who he presented himself to be.

"That's good. Do not stop,” she sighed when he began to work his magic.

“Is there anywhere you ain’t pierced, honey?”

“No….please, don't stop…” she insisted.

Daryl leaned in to partake of her breasts as Merle got her motor running high with his mouth. They worked well as a team, and it wasn’t half as weird as either of them had expected, it felt amazing, and that's all that mattered.

“You still OK, honey?” Merle checked in when he took a short break to kiss her inner thighs, and something inside her softened even more.

This kind of thing was new, and she liked it. She was afraid to get burned again, but it was hard not to trust Merle completely, he was an open book. Daryl didn't seem like a bad man at all, but he held his cards closer to his chest, and that was sexy as well.

“I’m fine,” she panted.

“You’re the boss here,” Daryl added. “You give the orders.”

Lisbeth liked the sound of that; they were leaving it all up to her even after she had dropped such a strange sexual situation on them. She’d only been trying to meet the need for sex, but this was even better...it felt almost intimate.

Merle kissed her from her mound to her vagina so slowly and then teased his tongue inside her like he’d read her sexual blueprints beforehand. He knew just the right pressure; he did just what she liked somehow. She could feel herself getting close, so she lifted her feet off the bed and rested them on his upper back to let it all go.

Merle lifted her hips up and licked every inch of her sweetness and moaned into her tender flesh. She groaned as she melted into his mouth and clawed at the bed sheets wildly.

“Oh….uh….Mmmmm…..”

There was hardly a pause before she was reaching for him and begging for more.

“Fuck me, Merle,” she gasped, and he started to feel around in the dimness for his condom stash.

“Damn it!” he hissed.

“No condoms,” Daryl laughed. “Just a second.”

Daryl jumped up and grabbed a couple from his room and handed one to Merle.

Still stunned at the evening, Merle slid the condom on and lay on his side, pulling her into his arms to kiss her again.

He slid her leg up and around his waist and entered her so slowly that she squirmed against him to speed it up. Merle always liked laying on his side to have sex with someone new, at first. He liked being close and seeing their face so he could tell what they were thinking a little better. Merle loved the look of the ink on her skin and her pretty face; he liked the look of her more all the time. He rolled his hips, and she moaned soft and rhythmically as he moved. Being face to face and body to body with her was so new but so right, and he could feel himself hoping it would happen again. His right hand held her entire ass cheek with ease, and he pulled her in tighter to give her the depth he knew she wanted.

Daryl kissed his way down her back and wrapped his arm around her body to feel her breasts as she was being nailed by his own brother. It felt normal, and yet it wasn’t normal at all.

Lisbeth rolled Merle onto his back after a few minutes and rode him smooth and steady, driving him further and further out of his mind. He pulled her down and kissed her hard as he broke into pieces, clinging to her and moaning her name.

"Oh, God...Lisbeth! Oh my God..."

Lisbeth smiled in satisfaction and then rolled onto her back to catch her breath. Merle liked her rare smile, she kept it hidden away until she really meant it and that made it even more special.

Daryl waited for her to make a move or fall asleep, he was a big boy so he’d manage either way.

He was sat, leaning against the wall, and when her breathing slowed back to normal, she crept onto his lap and straddled his thighs.

“Do you want me?” she asked him in her no nonsense voice.

“Yeah,” he answered honestly.

He grabbed a condom as she waited and then touched her arms as she came closer. She sank down onto his hard dick as Merle watched from the side and groaned at how hot it looked. She rode Daryl’s dick like she was close again, and she was.

Lisbeth started to whine, and Daryl could feel her body twitching on his cock. She reached out for Merle, and he obeyed coming closer to kiss her. His hand accidentally brushed Daryl’s side, and he decided to go with it, laying his hand on his brother’s shoulder to get closer to her.

Their tongues moved in unison, and she moaned into his mouth. She was just about to cum on his brother’s dick as she kissed him hard and Merle realized then that 'down the rabbit hole' could be a very cool place after all. Being led by desire and sexual fulfillment was hot as hellfire, and he wanted more.

It was at this moment that she pushed them both to the edge and neither of them could fight it; they were caught up in a whirlwind of lust.

“Kiss him.”

“Huh?”

She whined then, teetering on the edge of her orgasm.

“You heard me,” she said in her, sexy dry, toneless voice.

Merle’s hand reached around Daryl's neck, and he pulled him close without even thinking, pressing his lips to Daryl’s.

With that, Lisbeth hit her second cloud and whined and fucked Daryl so good he completely forgot Merle’s tongue was in his mouth. The clenching contractions of her pussy sent Daryl down the river and out of nowhere he pulled Merle closer and moaned into his mouth as he came undone.

He poured half of his release into kissing Merle, and it didn’t even feel wrong in the moment, nothing could feel wrong in that moment.

/

They collapsed into a pile on the bed, unable to process anything but not caring to either. All of the questions could be left for the morning, none of them knew the answers anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. She's Really Something Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are still figuring the whole thing out and Lisbeth has a past that may come out later...;)  
> The song is 'Running with the Boys' by Lights

_We were kind of feral, wicked little machines_  
_Captains and Cavalries forming empires in the shade of the trees_  
_Without hesitation, kings of the forest town_  
_Holding the ocean down_  
_We were half this heavy and twice this loud_  
  
_So turn up the noise_  
_Dressed to the nines_  
_Running with the boys_  
_Your hand in mine_  
_Singing every song,_  
_Loving every line_  
_'Til the night is gone_  
_Just like the old times_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 4 – She's Really Something Else** _

Lisbeth groaned and snuggled up to the man closest, who happened to be Daryl. Merle lay behind her radiating a wealth of body heat and comfort.

This hadn’t been the plan, but as soon as she’d seen them together, she knew she wanted both of them. She’d only ever been with a man and a woman before, never two men.

Merle was easy to read, and she knew instantly that he meant her no harm. Daryl was a little trickier to get a lead on, but he loved his brother, and she had a good feeling about him too. She felt safe between them and so warm that she drifted off into peaceful sleep within minutes.

###############

When Lisbeth opened her eyes, she was in Merle’s arms instead of Daryl’s, but he was still right behind her with his face pressed to her back.

The heat radiating off of their bodies was a little overwhelming, and she was dying of thirst.

Lisbeth squirmed until she’d separated from them and tiptoed around the room in search of her clothing. She needed a cigarette and a cup of coffee badly, she operated primarily on coffee and nicotine.

“Where are you going?” Merle asked in a hushed whisper as she approached the door.

“I need coffee and a cigarette.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Thought maybe you were leaving.”

“I can leave if you like.”

“No, no. I’m not saying that. I don't want you to go.”

Merle got up out of bed to make her a cup of coffee, told her to have a seat on the couch and make herself at home. She looked around the room now that the light was better and noticed that it was quite tidy and organized for being the home of two men.

“How do you take your coffee?” he called from the kitchen.

“Cream, no sugar.”

He walked back in and handed her the coffee cup, and she nodded a thank you.

“I don’t know what your plans are and it’s none of my business but…you can stay as long as you like. It’s only Daryl and me here, and there’s a basement suite downstairs.”

“You’re offering me a place to stay?” she asked. This was odd since they’d only had sex. She thought perhaps it was an American custom, something she’d never heard of.

“It just seems like maybe you have no fixed address at the moment and…I really like you, so if you wanted to, you could stay here.”

“You're not upset about last night?”

“About Daryl? No. If you want to be with him instead of me I understand, most women do. I just wanted you to know that you could stay no matter what.”

“I don’t want him more than you; I like you both.”

“That’s OK too. This is all confusing as hell for me, but I don’t regret any of it.”

“I regret nothing. I’m done with regret.”

“That’s probably the way to be.”

Daryl stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes and sauntering toward the kitchen for coffee.

“Morning,” he grumbled.

“He’s not a morning person,” Merle explained.

“I see.”

“We gotta get to work but feel free to stay, and we could go out for a drink together tonight since it’s Friday.”

“OK,” she answered succinctly. “Thank you. I think I may stay a little while if you’re sure Daryl won’t mind. I only just arrived in the country, and I don’t know anyone.”

“What won't I mind?” Daryl mumbled from the kitchen.

“If Lisbeth stays for a while.”

“Hell no, go for it.”

Daryl plopped down beside her on the couch and sipped his coffee silently.

Merle left the room to get dressed for work, leaving them alone on the couch.

“He never did anything like that before,” Daryl informed her. “What happened last night…I only did once or twice at parties as a kid.”

“I don’t do that all the time, for your information. I’ve never been with two men before.”

“I wasn’t suggesting nothing.”

“OK,” she nodded. “Are you anti-gay in this house?”

“Nope. Apparently, Merle’s kissing me now so we might be gay too for all I know,” he laughed.

“I like women and men,” she explained.

“That’s fine; we don’t judge nothing like that.”

“Good. I liked to see you kissing him,” she added.

“You get off on that, huh?”

“Yes.”

Daryl shrugged but figured he’d probably feel the same about seeing her with another woman, in fact, he knew he would.

Merle came out in his work coveralls, and Daryl left the room to get showered.

“It’s all good then?” he checked, sitting down next to her.

Merle didn’t know if he could or should touch her or if the night before was a one-time occurrence.

She finished her coffee and ran her fingers through her hair, and he offered her some breakfast.

“I’m OK, thanks.”

Merle hoped she’d be there when he got home from work; he wanted to know more about her.

“If you want, I could show you the basement suite,” he offered.

Lisbeth followed him to the basement and brought her bag  with her.

“There’s a bathroom, a living room, and bedroom so you can be alone whenever you like...but you’re always welcome upstairs of course.”

“It’s nice of you to offer. Is this an American thing?”

“No, I just wanna help and we have the space.”

Just then Daryl called from the top of the stairs that they had to get moving and he leaned in awkwardly to kiss her cheek.

“Is that OK?” he asked.

“It’s fine."

She could see how much he wore his heart on his sleeve and she couldn’t remember ever feeling free enough to do so herself. Life had been cruel and harsh to her and letting her feelings be known openly to others was a foreign concept.

She smiled at him, to show him she was fine with everything, and he smiled right back. Reacting to things the way other people did wasn’t natural for her, at times she came off expressionless, and she knew it. It was the way the world had molded her.

  


##################

Soon the brothers were gone to work, and she sat down on the bed in the basement and pulled out her laptop.

Checking the news had become an obsession, but she’d covered her tracks perfectly. Nobody could ever find out she’d taken 2.6 million from Wennerström’s accounts; she would never see the light of day again. She had enough to more than support herself but she wanted to lie low and think first, and Merle and Daryl's home was the perfect place to do so.

Mikael’s face stared back at her from her computer screen and she shook her head and closed it up, she had to let it go.

Merle and Daryl were both good men, attractive and kind, but they’d never stand for her wanting them both for long, and she didn’t want to come between them. She’d try to stay as long as she could, but she wouldn’t come between brothers for anything.

The quiet, sleepy town of Toccoa was so far removed from Gothenburg. Being there was like slipping between the cracks of the planet and disappearing from sight completely.

  


##################

“That was some night, huh?” Merle began, pulling up in the drive thru for a badly needed second cup of coffee.

“You can say that again.”

“Is it OK I said she could stay a while?” Merle asked.

“Yeah, she seems OK. I mean she’s kind of odd, but I’m into it.”

“She just seems like she needs a roof over her head while she gets used to the country, she doesn’t know anyone here.”

“I think there’s probably a lot more going on with her than we know but I’m not prying about it.”

“Yeah, me neither. It ain’t none of my business.”

They got their coffees and parked up outside work to have a smoke before going into the shop. They both worked as mechanics for Abraham and had for years. Their lives were always intertwined, and more than a few people in town found it odd that they still lived together at their ages but it was just easier and cheaper that way, so why not?

“She said something kinda funny this morning,” Merle began.

“That sounds about right, she is kinda funny,” Daryl laughed.

“She said she likes us both.”

“Greedy little thing,” Daryl laughed.

“How do you suppose something like that works?”

“It probably doesn’t. Can you imagine dealing with both of us long-term? She’ll be running for the hills in no time.”

“I guess so. She said it like it was completely normal too, like having two men was an everyday thing.”

“Maybe it is in Sweden, but I never heard of it,” Daryl laughed. “Don’t worry about it too much. She can stay as long as she wants and we’ll figure her out as we go.”

"I guess so, she's really something else," Merle smiled.

"She really is," Daryl agreed.

  


  


 

 

 


	5. I Want You Tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is 'American Money' by BORNS  
> They are just figuring each other out. This is an alternative relationship so nothing is binary or like a straight forward relationship. Don't hate Lisbeth yet, she is complex but she isn't in this to hurt anyone (if you know her back story, she is the one who's always been hurt in that past).  
> Thanks for reading this odd story, my next one after this is a straight forward ZA fic.  
> love ya! Teagan xoxo

_I was there when you fell from the clouds_  
 _And landed in the desert_  
 _There was a thunder inside of my heart_  
 _There was a wonderful pleasure_  
  
_And like a stallion racing the rain_  
 _You rode on the back of my bike_  
 _I knew from the song that you sang_  
 _That you were my lover for life_  
 _******  
** Oh, there's no time to sleep_  
 _Oh, living in a dream_  
  
_So take me to the paradise_  
 _In your eyes_  
 _Green like American money_  
 _You taste just right_  
 _Sweet like Tennessee honey_  
  
_And we can run away_  
 _Swimming in the sunlight every day_  
 _Oh, paradise in your eyes_  
 _Green like American money_

 

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 5 – I Want You Tonight** _

Lisbeth spent the day downstairs on her computer for the most part. She looked through their mail and with only a few random pieces of info she had a full profile on both of them. She'd done the same thing with Mikael, and it made her feel safer to know who she was dealing with.

Next was an online search through local databases that needed to be hacked but were incredibly easy to gain access to; Toccoa didn't even employ an antivirus for its town records. Neither of the brothers was ever married, they had no children of their own, and had been raised in an abusive home. Social services had intervened on occasion, and they'd been placed in various foster homes on a temporary basis. Merle had been a troubled teen but had no convictions as an adult. Daryl had won a scholarship to university but only completed one year before coming back home. They owned the little home she was sitting in together and worked at Abe’s Auto Body since not long after high school. She had no reason to think they’d be a threat to her and that’s what she really wanted to know. She felt she could relax now that she had the full picture painted, whenever she'd trusted people before they often let her down. Only Holger Palmgren, Mikael Blomkvist, and a handful of friends had turned out to be allies.

Lisbeth ventured upstairs around noon in search of food and ate pot noodles at the kitchen table in only her black t-shirt and panties.

She didn’t know if they expected her to cook. America was a foreign culture to her, and she’d never bothered much with TV, so her knowledge of actual American life was limited.

Looking through the cupboards revealed basic bachelor foods that she compiled into a confusing meal around 5pm. When they returned home from work, there was a hot but questionable meal awaiting them.

Lisbeth was sat with her computer on the couch typing when they entered, and she nodded a hello to them, much of her communication was nonverbal.

“Something smells good! You didn’t have to cook,” Merle smiled when he sat next to her.

“It was nothing,” she answered, typing faster than Merle had ever seen.

Daryl walked into the kitchen and frowned at the concoction on his plate.

She'd made hot dogs, macaroni cheese and ketchup with three pickles. There was a plate of Oreos in the middle of the table that he presumed was 'dessert.' Daryl had never seen anything like it.

Merle grinned when he walked into the kitchen and noticed the meal she’d made, he planned to eat it all without a hint of a fuss, but he could see that Daryl was baffled.

“Just eat it, or you’ll hurt her feelings,” he whispered.

Daryl sighed and sat down to eat as Lisbeth came in and sat across from him at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Aren’t you eating?” he asked.

“I’m not eating that,” she answered simply.

“Then why am I eating it?”

“You’re American.”

Daryl laughed himself silly but continued to eat; the hot dogs and macaroni weren’t all that bad actually.

“So did you want to go out tonight?” Merle asked her, and she said it sounded fine.

“I can pay you rent for the basement, how much would you like?” she said, pouring herself another coffee.

“Nothing. We don’t want your money, Lisbeth,” Daryl insisted.

“It’s no trouble. I insist.”

She disappeared into the basement to shower and get changed for going out and left them with questions as usual.

Lisbeth hoped there was a decent club in town but she doubted it, she stuck out like a sore thumb in Toccoa.

She was in the shower for a good ten minutes when Merle remembered that there were no clean towels downstairs, so he collected a few to bring down to her.

“I can’t believe she’d want to pay to stay in that basement,” Merle noted on his way to the stairs.

“She’s probably just really independent; you could always hang onto whatever she gives you in case she needs it back.”

“Good idea.”

Merle headed down the steps as she was walking out of the bathroom and she nodded to him as she reached for the towels. She was completely nude and looking him dead in the eye.

“I’m so sorry,” he stuttered.

“Why? You’ve already seen me naked.”

She dried her hair and walked toward the bedroom as he stared at her perfect ass. He was flooded with desire, but she didn’t appear to be looking for his attention, so he turned toward the stairs.

“Merle?" she called from inside the basement bedroom.

“Yes?”

“Come.”

Merle sighed and walked toward the bedroom door; he was already getting hard. Lisbeth was sat on a kitchen chair and digging in her bag, presumably for clothing.

With a subtle nod of her head, she pulled him closer with her eyes, and he obeyed. Her arms reached up to grasp a handful of his shirt, and she pulled him slowly down to his knees. She was so small, but she held all the power. He was easily three times her size, but he wasn’t the one in control.

He ended up sinking slowly to his knees between her bare thighs, kissing her softly. She leaned over just a little to kiss his lips and then rested against the back of the chair.

Merle dropped his mouth to her knees and kissed slowly up the tattoo covering her thigh.

“I want you so bad, Lisbeth...I thought about you all day,” he moaned, sliding his hands up her body to hold onto her waist.

She liked the way he touched her, he was gentle, and she could tell he was a very sexual person. This was a man who loved and respected women; she’d tolerate no other kind of man.

He slid her closer to the edge of the chair, and she pulled her legs up and open to allow him better access. She watched as his eyes drank in the sight of her need for him.

Merle drew a wet path from her inner thigh to her burning heat, and she breathed deep, letting her legs relax open.

He touched her lips and let the other hand take her right breast. Drifting his fingertips over her nipple until she let out a whine, he pressed his tongue to her entrance.

She watched what he was doing and could feel herself getting closer by the second. His eyes met hers, and she could feel the heat radiating toward her as his tongue made contact with her clit.

She touched the side of his cheek then ran her fingers through his hair.

Merle loved the taste of her; she was like fire and water in one; a contradiction in terms.

Her appearance said ‘stay back’ in a way, but right now she couldn’t seem to get him close enough.

He pulled her legs up onto his shoulders when her thighs began to tremble, and she held onto the seat with both hands as she came.

She made no sound, but she panted heavily and pulled him in tight with her feet.

He only moved back when she lifted her legs off of his shoulders and finally opened her eyes.

“You’re very good at that,” she praised in a pleased tone.

“I just wanna make you happy, honey.”

He meant it completely too; Merle wanted to keep her happy so she'd stay. He wasn’t like Daryl, who could stay detached a lot easier, he was too open with women, and he’d been taken advantage of in the past because of it. Something about Lisbeth told him she wasn’t dishonest though. If she didn’t want him, she’d just say so.

He kissed her again, and she smiled a little smile at him. She only gave him little smiles, but it made him crave them from her even more.

When he got to his feet before her, she surprised him by returning the favor. Slow and wet, she drove him mad with her mouth, and he touched her soft hair gently as she broke him into pieces. He wondered what the rules were when she was also with Daryl but it was hard to think straight with her touching him. It was hard to imagine Daryl minding very much; he wasn't normally the type to get attached.

/

They all headed out the front door to go out, and Daryl disappeared into the garage next to the house and walked his bike out to the driveway.

“Nice bike,” Lisbeth noted. “I had one back home.”

“You ride?”

“Yes, I miss it.”

“Why don’t you ride with Daryl then? I’ll take my truck,” Merle suggested.

“Yeah, if you want to,” Daryl grinned.

He hadn’t had a woman on his bike in ages, and he loved it. It would be even better if she knew how to ride already.

“Sure.”

Daryl handed her the helmet and told Merle to head to _The MetalWorks_ ; it was a biker bar that would probably suit Lisbeth a little better than the country bar where Merle had met her.

“We’ll be a little while yet; I’ll take her out on the highway for a spin.”

“Yep, see ya later," Merle waved back to them.

Merle got in his old truck and lit a smoke and watched as she put on the helmet and climbed on behind Daryl. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t jealous but it was likely that he knew she wasn’t really his or anyone’s, Lisbeth wasn’t looking to belong to anyone. Frankly, Merle was just happy to be able to touch her and get to know her. If she ended up with either of them in the end, it was bound to be Daryl, and he accepted that. The fact that he'd happily give his heart to her didn't mean that she'd give hers to him.

He headed off to the loudest bar in town where bar bands could leave you deafened by midnight.

/

Lisbeth held onto Daryl’s waist and felt the breeze in her face; she loved it. He rode out to the highway and leaned over his shoulder to her.

“You like it fast?”

“Yes!”

His bike had more balls than her bike back home; it rumbled between her thighs. She leaned into him as the light of dusk began to melt the sky into the horizon.

The roar of the engine and the scent of his skin blowing in the wind passed her face was exciting, she loved the speed, and she wanted to ride herself.

“Find a back road!” she yelled over his shoulder.

He nodded once and turned off the highway within the next few minutes. Soon the lights of the highway had faded, and he pulled onto the shoulder of a well-graded grid road.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“May I?” she asked simply, nodding to the bike.

“Yeah,” he grinned.

Daryl loved that this tiny foreign woman wanted to wrangle his Triumph, even Merle was afraid of it.

“Can I ride bitch?” he asked.

“What?”

“Can I ride with you? We call it 'riding bitch' here?”

She actually made a sound that was like laughing, and when he got off, she hunched up into his spot.

“Lemme take it up the road a ways first to get a feel for it, then you come along.”

“Go for it,” he grinned.

Maybe she was gonna steal his bike and leave him in the dust. It was possible, but he didn’t think so.

She revved the engine and let out a short squeal; it was the girliest thing he’d seen her do yet.

Lisbeth took off into the dark, and a cloud of dust lay in her wake. He was impressed that she handled the huge machine like it was nothing to her.

The sound died as she put space between them and for a minute or so he couldn’t even see the lights of the bike in the distance.

Just when he began to wonder if she’d really fucked him over the lights became visible again.

She was going far faster than he would be on grid road and she was actually scaring the hell out of him. As she got closer, she only picked up speed and passed him in the other direction like a bolt of lightning. She was steady and leaned over like a racer looking even smaller on his bike. A few minutes later she pulled up beside him and pulled the helmet off, and her eyes were huge.

“I love this bike…I love it! Get on.”

Daryl walked toward her and threw his leg over, but before she could get her helmet on, he snaked his arms around her waist and leaned into her neck with his hungry mouth.

She was incredible, and he needed to taste her skin. He was taken by her like he'd never been taken with any woman before.

She leaned back against him, and his hands moved under her shirt to her breasts.

“I want you tonight,” he whispered, licking her ear and she let out a short sound like a moan.

“OK.”

He continued, lowering his hand to her stomach and then between her legs.

Between the rumble of the engine, his mouth on her neck and his fingers moving in little circles over her jeans she was in agreement.

“Yes…”

The fire began to burn, and she felt high from the speed of the bike and the precision of his sexuality. She was ready for more. They switched positions since she didn’t have an American drivers license and headed to the bar to meet Merle.

Daryl held her hand against his belly and smiled at how funny he was feeling. Lisbeth wasn't like anyone he'd ever met, man or woman.

  


 

 

  


 


	6. Picturing Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Picturing Love by July Talk

_Picture yourself in a tangle with another_  
 _You feel your body awaken_  
 _Your skin is sh-sh-sh-shaking_  
 _Your love needed making_  
 _Pictures mean nothing when you find your own lover_  
 _And I'm talking skin on skin_  
 _That kind of skin that you're in, boy_  
 _That kind that's been where you've been_  
  
_You, you, you..._  
 _You, you..._  
 _Cause I'm tired of seeing pictures on a screen_  
 _I'm tired of picturing love_  
 _Picturing love, picturing love, picturing love_  
 _I'm tired of picturing love_  
 _Picturing love, picturing love, picturing love_  
 _I'm tired of picturing love_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 6 - Picturing Love** _

Daryl and Lisbeth turned up at the bar as Merle was working on his second drink and looked like they’d had some fun riding.

“Hey, you guys. What did you want to drink?”

Merle ordered a scotch for Lisbeth and a beer for Daryl, and she lit a cigarette as she sat down next to Merle.

“That bike is incredible,” she began, and he was surprised to see her visibly excited about something.

“She can handle it no problem,” Daryl added. “Probably better than I can.”

They drank and chatted, and she was asked many questions about Sweden. Lisbeth tried to think of home without all of the bad memories, but it wasn’t easy. They asked her to speak her native language, and she obliged them for a laugh, telling them dirty words that they mutilated when they attempted to repeat them. She actually found herself laughing with them, and her past felt far away for once.

When she got up to use the restroom she presumed they’d talk more about her, she wondered if everything was still OK between them. The last thing she wanted to do was upset the balance they had going on. Merle and Daryl seemed to only really have each other.

###############

“She seems to be having a good time,” Daryl remarked.

“Yeah,…she’s got a pretty laugh. I was starting to wonder if she ever laughed.”

“Maybe Swedish people are more serious.”

“Maybe.”

/

Lisbeth stood before the mirror and moved her hand through her hair; it wasn’t meant to be in any particular position anyway. The sides and back of her head were shaved, and the rest was typically spiked into a sloppy mohawk. Her general look was intended to keep people at a distance until she trusted them, it was an added cloak of protection.

The bathroom was loud, from the sound of pounding music in the bar, but she could still hear something behind her. A woman was sobbing softly in a stall, and she couldn’t ignore it, she’d been preprogrammed with chivalry.

Lisbeth stayed quietly waiting, leaning against a wall until the woman emerged. She looked embarrassed, but Lisbeth just watched her for a beat. The girl was about her age at a guess and had short auburn hair and green eyes. She was wearing a simple black dress with sandals and was very sweet looking.

When she’d finished washing her hands, she turned to Lisbeth, obviously wondering what she was looking at.

“Are you OK?” she asked the girl.

“You heard that, huh?”

“Yes. Are you OK?” she repeated softly.

“I think so…I just got dumped; now I’m stuck here alone.”

"You have no way home?"

"No...I’m Nadine.”

“Lisbeth.”

“You aren’t from here.”

“Sweden. Can I buy you a drink?”

The girl smiled and frowned simultaneously, confused by the offer.

“I guess so…thanks.”

“I’m sitting with two men I live with, is that alright?”

“Sure.”

"They are good men."

"OK."

Nadine walked closer, and Lisbeth smiled, a little smile, and her eyes took on a submissive quality.

“I never had a woman buy me a drink before,” Nadine grinned.

“I get to be the first then.”

Lisbeth walked back to the table with her and noticed the confusion on Merle and Daryl’s faces.

“This is Nadine.”

They both said hello, and Lisbeth sat down next to Merle and Nadine sat next to Daryl. Nadine introduced herself to them, and Lisbeth could see they were looking for answers.

“We just met, she’s on her own.”

“I just got dumped, and I was sobbing in the bathroom, so Lisbeth took pity on me.”

“Who dumps a woman on a Friday night?” Merle asked rhetorically.

“An idiot,” Nadine answered. “I swear I’m about to give up on men completely.”

“We’re not all that bad,” Daryl insisted with a grin.

“Citations needed,” she laughed.

“They are two very good men,” Lisbeth vouched.

“I’ll take your word for it then,” she replied, and Lisbeth noticed something flirtatious in her voice. She’d slept with more than one woman who probably didn’t even identify as bi or gay, but it didn’t matter to her, she didn’t push anyone into anything.

A few drinks later they were all chatting and joking around, and then Nadine got up to request a song from the band because she knew them.

The moment she left the table Merle leaned in and asked about the situation.

“So you just started talking to her in the bathroom?”

“She was crying in a stall; I can’t stand that. I wanted to make her feel better.”

Daryl grinned and took a sip of her drink.

“I thought maybe you wanted to bring her home for the night.”

“Do you think she’d come?” she asked and they both fell silent.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Merle asked.

“Didn’t Daryl tell you that I like women as well?”

“No, he didn’t,” Merle answered with a raise of his eyebrows. “That’s very interesting.”

“We'll see. She may not even be...” Lisbeth’s voice trailed off as Nadine returned.

The band started to play 'Picturing Love' by July Talk, and Nadine squealed, pulling Lisbeth onto the dancefloor.

"Come on, Lisbeth. I need to forget my misery with a dance," Nadine giggled.

Daryl and Merle both laughed at the stunned look on Lisbeth’s face. She was not the dancing type, that much was obvious.

Nadine moved her hips to the music and lay a hand on Lisbeth’s shoulder and whispered something to her as Merle and Daryl looked on.

Nadine turned her back to Lisbeth and leaned back against her as she moved.

“What the fuck?” Merle queried.

They both watched as Lisbeth’s hands met with her waist and her face moved into Nadine’s neck making her smile and close her eyes.

“This girl is…trouble,” Daryl noted.

“Is that a problem?” Merle asked.

“Fuck no.”

The crowd didn’t seem to pay too much attention to them; women, dancing together at a bar was pretty common. They were dancing closer than women normally did but the music was loud, and the place was hopping so nobody seemed to notice except Merle and Daryl.

The song changed to one from the juke box as the band took a break and they came to sit back down.

Nadine sat close to Daryl and smiled at him shyly; she’d had a couple too many but was still within the limits of reason.

“Come for a cigarette outside,” Lisbeth whispered to Merle, and he followed her out.

Lisbeth wanted some fresh air, so she pushed her way through the crowd and out to the alley.

She lit a cigarette for herself and one for Merle.

“Thanks,” he said taking it from her.

“Am I scaring you tonight?” she asked, simply.

“A little, but I like it.”

She gave him one of those little smiles he craved and took a long drag.

“Can I be honest with you about something?” she asked.

“You can tell me anything,” he answered.

“I do like your brother as well...but I like you more,” she said, moving closer to him until he bumped into the brick wall behind him.

“Me?”

“Yes. I don’t want to come between you two; I know that it’s selfish.”

“As long as everyone knows where they stand…I’ll be honest, honey, I’ve been lost since I met you but I don’t mind one bit.”

“If I ever touch someone else I want you to remember that I like you more,” she said, taking the last puff of her smoke before tossing it to the ground.

“You’re the first woman to ever like me more than Daryl,” he uttered.

Daryl was a good looking man; Merle knew that he wasn’t blind. Daryl had a cocky way about him too; he was cool and confident with women. Daryl rode a motorcycle and always had something witty and charming to say. Merle knew that Daryl was the one women preferred, but he loved his brother more than he envied him. No woman could ever cause a problem between him and Daryl, after everything that happened in their childhood they were inseparable.

“If all of this is too much I want you to tell me so.”

“OK."

“Promise me that, cause I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I promise.”

They walked back toward the door, and he stopped her for a moment to kiss her in the dark of the alley. Nobody ever liked him more than Daryl; he needed to show her what that meant to him.

“Are you bringing Nadine home?” he asked with a grin when he pulled back.

“I think so, but it’s hard to say. Will that be OK?”

“It’s fine by me. The basement is your own domain for you to do as you please. I don't want to ever control you, Lisbeth.”

“It might not be downstairs,” she winked and then walked away.

Soon everyone had enough of the loud music and needed to get somewhere quieter.

“Let’s cab it,” Daryl groaned. “I had more than I was planning on.”

“Are you coming or did you want to go home?” Lisbeth asked Nadine.

“I’ll come if it’s OK with everyone.”

They all nodded in approval and soon the group was cramming into the back of a cab on the way back to Merle and Daryl’s place.

Merle didn't know where the night would lead, but he held Lisbeth's hand in the back of the cab feeling like a king nonetheless. The impossible had finally happened, he was the chosen one.

  


 

  


 


	7. Into the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a VERY sexual chapter:) (it's all in the tags)  
> The song is "Into the Fire" by Sarah McLauchlan

_Mother teach me to walk again_  
 _Milk and honey so intoxicating_  
  
_And into the fire_  
 _I'm reunited_  
 _Into the fire_  
 _I am the spark_  
 _Into the fire_  
 _I yearn for comfort_  
  
_Open the doors that lead on into Eden_  
 _Don't want no cheap disguise_  
 _I follow the signs marked back to the beginning_  
 _No more compromise_  
  
_Free the water that carries me to the sea_  
 _You I see as my security_  
  
_I will stare into the sun until its light doesn't blind me_  
 _I will walk into the fire until its heat doesn't burn me_  
 _And I will feed the fire_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 7 – Into the Fire** _

Lisbeth pulled out a twenty and paid the cab driver, and they all walked up the path to the front door.

Daryl had no idea how it was supposed to go, and he was thinking of too many things at once.

He really liked Lisbeth, he was interested in Nadine, and part of him even enjoyed kissing Merle. He had no idea what he wanted or how he wanted it, but he was open to anything that night.

The moment they entered the living room, the tension between them all was palpable. Daryl offered everyone a drink and they all accepted.

Soon they were sat around the room and feeling the heat rising.

“I haven’t been to a boy girl party like this since I was a kid,” Nadine noted with a laugh. "Just two boys and two girls."

“What do American kids do at parties?” Lisbeth inquired.

“Spin the bottle, 7 minutes in heaven, that kind of thing. What do they do in Sweden?”

Her teen years had been spent in the institution, so she didn’t really know.

“Drinking…and stuff,” she guessed.

“Hey Merle, you remember when we were kids, and you kissed that girl with braces, and you cut her lip by accident?” Daryl joked.

“Don’t remind me. I really liked her,” he groaned. “I was a little overzealous as a kid. I had to keep saying sorry for weeks.”

Lisbeth smiled a little to herself; she could picture Merle being that way.

“So they didn’t play spin the bottle in Sweden?” Nadine pressed in disbelief.  
“I don’t think so,” Lisbeth answered, she honestly didn’t know.

“You have to play it before you die,” Nadine joked finishing her beer and handing the bottle to her.

“Lay it on the ground and spin it,” she instructed and then demonstrated it to her.

“This is a child’s game?” Lisbeth asked.

“Yep, but it's fun. You just spin it and kiss whoever is lands on,” she smiled. “It’s just fun. Come sit on the floor with me.”

Lisbeth thought it sounded a little silly since she’d already slept with both Merle and Daryl, but she played along and sat across from Nadine on the carpet.

She spun the bottle in a circle, and it landed on Daryl, so she moved toward him without a thought and lay her hand on his shoulder to kiss him. She felt his arms around her, so she slid her tongue into his mouth hungrily. Daryl was like smoke and fire, smoldering and sensual. Merle was like earth and water, grounded but mighty.

She came to sit back in her spot on the floor, and Nadine’s eyes were shining.

“Now Daryl has to go. Normally you play with more people, but this will do,” Nadine laughed.

Daryl rolled his eyes and spun the bottle while taking a sip of his drink.

The bottle spun for what felt like a long time and then settled on Nadine, or closest to her anyway.

“You started this game,” he grinned, motioning her over to him.

Lisbeth and Merle watched as Nadine came closer to Daryl and was pulled to his mouth with his hands on her cheeks. He kissed her so softly and slowly that it made Merle’s heart race. It looked sexy as fuck, and for a brief second, he felt something stirring inside him. The feelings that had been unearthed lately freaked him out, but he was open to anything involving Lisbeth.

“Whooo!” Nadine squealed, fanning herself with her hand. “Not bad at all. My turn.”

She giggled and spun the bottle on the floor. Merle watched with interest as it stopped spinning and landed on Lisbeth.

“Oh,” Nadine responded with another shy giggle.

“You don’t have to,” Lisbeth noted. “Take another turn.”

“No…it's OK,” she uttered, moving closer and all the oxygen left the room.

Merle’s eyes instantly shot to Daryl, and they could read each other’s minds clearly.

_**Fuck me! They’re really gonna kiss?!?!?** _

Merle knew he wasn’t breathing anymore. He’d seen this on porn, but these two women were right in front of him; it was totally different.

Nadine crawled toward her, and even Lisbeth looked a little nervous and lowered her face just a little as she reached her.

A hand came under her chin and lifted her eyes back up to Nadine’s face and then she kissed her.

Daryl squirmed a little at the sight of it; it had been ages since he'd seen two girls kiss at a party. Nadine was on her hands and knees before Lisbeth and kissing her sweetly; it was perfection. Lisbeth reached her arms out and took her face in return then, and in a split second the whole thing changed. Lisbeth lay back slowly onto the floor, and Nadine moved with her, sliding down between her legs.

Daryl leaned forward on the couch to see what was happening better and then looked up at Merle as if to ask, ' _ **this ain**_ _ **’**_ _ **t really happening, is it?'**_

Merle looked just as baffled but very aroused.

Lisbeth was stunned at Nadine's response, but she liked the little show of aggression. She felt safer with an aggressive woman than an aggressive man, for reasons that were obvious to her.

Lisbeth lay her hands on Nadine’s waist and felt her tongue move against her lips, so she parted them. She’d wondered if it was just a game at first or a way for Nadine to get Daryl’s interest but she really seemed into it. 'Party lesbians' were a phenomenon Lisbeth was familiar with, and she didn't judge it, but it always felt better to be with a woman who really liked women and had no other motivations.

Lisbeth was under the girl, and that wasn’t normally the way she did things, so she rolled over so that she was the one on top.

The living room carpet became a den of lust, and Lisbeth thrust her body between her legs just gently, and she heard a little moan escape Nadine’s lips.

“Have you done this before?” she paused to ask.

“No.”

“Can I touch you?”

“Yes.”

Soon Lisbeth’s hand was moving up the back of her thigh, and she was kissing her way down to her neck.

Merle held his hand to his mouth in stunned silence as Daryl grinned down at the tangle of arms and legs.

It all began to burn out of control, and nobody knew why or how but nobody cared either. Nadine pulled Lisbeth's shirt up and over her head and tossed it over at Daryl. Lisbeth grabbed at the waistband of her panties under her dress and moaned into her neck, not sure how far she’d want to go.

“Do it,” Nadine whispered, removing all doubt.

Lisbeth pulled her panties down her legs slowly and left them around her knees as she slid her hand between her thighs.

“Mmmmm….”

A surprised little moan shot forth from Nadine’s throat as fingers made contact with her soft, wet lips. Lisbeth was gentle but dominant and shifted Nadine’s leg further open with her thigh. She slid her fingertips along the slippery folds of Nadine’s body, and the room was silent as death.

Merle could see everything perfectly from where he sat behind Lisbeth, and it was killing him. The way Lisbeth’s fingers moved and the way Nadine writhed in response was pure, unadulterated evil.

His eyes moved to the tattoo on Lisbeth’s back, and he wanted to touch her but didn’t think it was time to intrude. He was curious how long he could last before giving into the need to make a move.

Lisbeth sat back on her knees and removed her bra and unfastened her jeans before coming back down over Nadine. She settled one leg on either side of Nadine's left thigh and continued to touch her, but it wasn’t long before she could feel a hand slide into her pants.

“What do I do?” Nadine whispered.

“Just do what you like, but do it to me,” Lisbeth answered.

Lisbeth let out a groan and started to pull her up to sit so she could get her dress off; she couldn’t hold back anymore. The dress had to go, and they were completely unhinged, but in the best possible way.

Daryl slouched back on the couch and was starting to lose it; his dick was so hard it hurt. He wanted to touch Nadine just the way Lisbeth was.

Lisbeth lay her dress on the floor behind her and got her out of her bra; she needed to get her to cum. Sometimes she felt like a man in bed; she wanted to please the woman while her own pleasure was secondary.

Lisbeth had her stripped and whining for more in a heartbeat, so she leaned down to kiss her breasts. She lay her body down between Nadine’s legs and nudged them far apart with her own knees.

Merle stared at her ass and open legs, and it was everything he could do not to reach out and touch her.

Lisbeth held a hand under her head as she kissed her mouth and used her other hand to push her own jeans down. When her legs were bare, she straddled Nadine's thigh and the brother's watched in silence as the grinding began. Lisbeth moved herself against the other woman's thigh as her own upper thigh made contact with Nadine's pussy. Merle moaned and held his hand over his mouth in disbelief; it had to be the most incredible thing he'd ever witnessed.

After a minute or two, Lisbeth kissed lower and lower down Nadine's belly and didn’t hesitate to go down on her right on the floor in front of them.

Daryl groaned to himself, but Lisbeth heard it and looked up to grin in his direction.

“Oh….Christ!” Nadine gasped.

Lisbeth did it the way she liked and then modified based on the way Nadine moaned and responded. She teased her way around the other woman's clit with her tongue to make her need it then pressed her tongue to her core before repeating the whole process over again with soft kisses.

“Please….” Nadine cried out.

Nadine’s head rolled to the side where she caught Daryl’s glare. She was right there and staring into his eyes, teetering on the edge of an orgasm and just looking at him.

Nothing so sexy had ever happened to Daryl, this was on another level of eroticism, and he wasn’t even involved. He watched as her breath began to come in gasps and her back arched. Nadine’s eye’s rolled back into her head, and she whined rhythmically as it spilled all over her.

There was a moment of silence where Nadine came to terms with the fact that another woman had just gotten her off and Lisbeth sat back on her knees in only her black panties.

Lisbeth looked so perfect to Merle, and he wanted her so badly.

She took a few sips of her drink from the table and stretched her arms above her head casually as Nadine still lay on the carpet in pieces.

“Liz,” Merle uttered, reaching for her.

She turned to look at him and could see how affected he was by what he'd seen.

Daryl got up and paced the floor for a moment before Nadine approached him.

“I want you,” he said, hoping like hell she felt the same.

She started to rip his clothes from his body without a single word; it was all the answer he needed.

Lisbeth slipped off her panties and slithered onto Merle’s lap. She straddled his hips and clung to him around his neck; it felt like she belonged there.

She was so tiny but so powerful, and he needed her, even if he had to share. Merle slid his hands down to cup her perfect ass, and she rolled her hips against his aching dick. He needed to get out of his pants and get some skin to skin contact going, but the tease was so good.

He grabbed one of her breasts and ran his tongue over her nipple, feeling the cold metallic sensation of the stud going through it.

“I wanna be inside you, honey,” he moaned, kissing his way all over her chest and moving his hands from her ass to her upper back.

She was fucking him through their clothing, and he died with desire for her.

“I can’t take it, honey…I gotta have you,” he pleaded so she stood before him and pulled him to his feet.

Over on the couch, Nadine was already working Daryl's dick over with her hand, and it looked hot as hell.

Lisbeth grabbed a few condoms from Daryl’s dresser and tossed some on the table before handing one to Merle. She pulled his shirt off and started on his pants, and within minutes he was being pushed back down onto the chair and straddled by his dark angel.

Her pale skin was all over him, and he sighed as she slid down onto his dick. His mind shot briefly back to when she’d done the very same thing with Daryl. It didn’t make him jealous, and he had no idea why because he really liked her. She was just a different kind of person, and he accepted it.

Her head fell back, and he kissed her breasts and held her to his mouth.

Soon she was curling forward, and he sucked her nipple into his mouth like a hungry infant. She had everything he needed.

Merle slipped his hand down between their bodies to give her something to move her clit against. She rolled her body against him and shifted just enough so that his hand was getting her right where she needed it.

“Merle….I…” she sobbed in ecstasy.

“It's OK...just let it go, honey.”

Lisbeth wrapped her arms around his neck and fucked him harder and faster as she came undone. She could feel him so deep inside her that it made her toes curl, she’d been right about him having a nice, big dick. Her body hit that blissful release, and she could feel her pussy pulsating on the hardness that was spreading her insides wider from all angles.

Her head finally came to rest on his shoulder, and he found himself looking over at Daryl and Nadine, this was the strangest situation of his whole life.

He paused long enough for her to catch her breath then picked her up to lay her on the floor at his feet to finish the job.

Daryl felt the warm tease of Nadine’s mouth on his dick and groaned long and low, wanting to get her under him. He watched as Merle and Lisbeth were going at it and had the idea that they may as well mix it all up. He found himself curious and wanting to experiment so he lifted Nadine up and lay her down on the carpet not far from Lisbeth and soon nature took its course.

Nadine raised her hands above her head, and they touched Lisbeth’s as their eyes met across the floor.

The room went mad and as the women moved closer so did Merle and Daryl.

Lisbeth pulled Nadine closer and whispered to her, making Nadine grin.

In what felt like a heartbeat, both men were laying on their sides only a foot or so apart, being sucked off by beautiful naked women and their faces expressed the disbelief. It was like being in a filthy movie, and nobody could deny that it felt good to be so bad…so depraved.

Their blue eyes fixated on each other's, and they could feel the urge coming on strong, the urge that told them it was OK to test the waters. Merle edged closer to Daryl, and soon they were holding each other’s faces and kissing each other hard, moaning into the other’s mouth as they were being driven mad by the women.

The whole thing was insane, but Merle just didn’t care anymore. Daryl slid his hand down Merle’s back and slipped his tongue into his mouth, and soon it was too much for either of them to bear.

Merle rolled onto his back and gasped for air as he recovered, but Daryl wasn’t quite done yet.

Nadine rolled a condom down Daryl’s length, and he finished the deal with her, fucking her from behind till he lost it and growled like and animal.

He came hard, digging his fingers into her flesh and panting.

Merle tried not to notice how good it looked; he was confused by everything since he met Lisbeth. Nothing made sense anymore, but everything felt so good that it was hard to fight it.

  


################

Spent. Completely spent.

Nobody moved, and nobody said a single word for the next five minutes…

Lisbeth got up and grabbed her clothes from the floor, she went straight to Merle’s room, and he smiled to himself. He had wondered if he’d get to hold her that night.

When they were finally in bed alone, he touched her soft white skin and smiled to himself in the dark.

"I didn't know that a woman like you existed," he sighed.

"Am I too much?"

"No, you're perfect just the way you are. I guess I'm still honored that you'd choose to spend any time with a guy like me."

"Don't talk like that anymore."

"Like what?"

"Like you're not good enough, you are good enough."

"Sorry-"

"And don't apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"OK."

Merle smiled and pulled her closer, wrapping her up in his arms hoping he could keep holding onto her. Merle wished that he knew more about her plans, but as she lay her hand over his, he forgot all about it and closed his eyes.

  


  


 

 

 

 


	8. Colored Emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The morning after...  
> The song is Colored Emotions by 'Night Moves'

_Don’t say when it just us a colored emotions_   
_One night but its just, just that colored emotions_   
  
_'Cause it’s the feeling that I get it's over when it just comes to light_   
_Because I’m missing still missing the persuasion has it comin' in through in tides_   
  
_Your love's got me a feeling like a high I once had in the night_   
_And it was you so in it just because of long devotion running on_   
  
_I was thinking that maybe I'd take a ride out of town_   
_Just to see a couple of friends I want to say goodbye..._   
  
  


* * *

 

_ **Chapter 8  - Colored Emotions** _

The next morning Daryl felt disorientated. He didn’t know what to think of anything. They had all been fairly tipsy, but he remembered everything clearly. Nadine was already up and on her way out, and he wasn’t surprised, it was probably a lot to take in for her especially. She had just suffered a breakup and was likely very mixed up about everything.

“Do you need anything?” he asked. “You’re welcome to stay for some breakfast if you want.”

“Thanks…but I need to get home and shower, I feel kinda confused.”

“Come here for a second,” he said, waving her back to the bed.

“What?”

“Do you feel liked you were pushed into something? Did you have more to drink than I thought?”

Daryl dreaded the idea of being with a woman and having it be non-consensual.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I don’t regret it, but I just got out of a relationship, and this is all a bit too much for me right now.”

“I understand.”

“It was a hell of a night though,” she grinned.

He smiled at her and nodded his head.

“It sure was, I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.”

Nadine leaned in to hug him and got up to find her phone in her purse to call a cab.

“Tell Merle and Lisbeth goodbye for me.”

“I will, and if you do ever want to see me again, you know where I live,” he smiled.

“I just might, thanks.”

With that, she was gone, and Daryl rolled over to go back to sleep. He’d done this morning chat thing before, and he did like her, but he wasn’t the type to get dramatic over anyone.

Merle stretched and opened his eyes when he heard the front door close. When he looked over to make sure Lisbeth was still there he smiled to see that she was.

She was completely nude, with only a little of the blanket covering her ass. She looked fragile and beautiful to him, but he knew how strong she really was. He wondered how she’d gotten that way and what had made her need to be strong. There was a lot he wanted to know about her, but he didn’t want to chase her away, she struck him as a flight risk.

She was free to leave whenever she wanted to; he just didn’t want to give her a reason to.

He decided that it must have been Nadine leaving, maybe she had somewhere she needed to get to. He threw his blanket over Lisbeth and snuggled up to her little body.

She woke up not long after and rolled over to face him.

“Last night was strange,” she said, rubbing her eyes.

“That it was. You OK?”

“I’m good…rub my back.”

She turned onto her belly, and he rubbed his big, strong hand up and down her back.

Lisbeth decided she’d stay for as long as she could. She was comfortable and safe there, and she liked being with Merle and Daryl. Her life had never had any direction before, and for years she just wanted to be free of the Swedish court system that oppressed her. Now that she was free she just wanted to float, and this felt like the right place to settle for the time being.

She closed her eyes and started to drift off with his hand moving over her skin with just the right pressure.

“I bet there’s a story behind your tattoos, but I won’t even ask…I just think they look nice.”

He said just what she wanted to hear somehow. Lisbeth didn't want questions, she just needed comfort, and for once she needed real affection.

"You make me want to tell you everything, but not today," she whispered.

"I don't need to know everything about you to care about you, Lisbeth."

"What if there were things about me that you didn't approve of?" she asked.

Merle sighed and ran his hand down her arm and back up to her shoulder slowly.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Please do."

"I had my heart broken about a year ago...and being with you is the first time I've been happy since then. You don't need to tell me anything at all; I just want you close to me for as long as you wanna be here."

She settled into his arms and pressed her face to his chest.

"I'll tell you everything someday, and then you can decide if you want me to stay."

"I'll never want you to go, Lisbeth."

/

Merle went out to the backyard to mow the grass with his shirt off later that morning, and Lisbeth watched him through the kitchen window.

"You two a thing now?" Daryl asked.

"You and Nadine a thing now?" Lisbeth asked in return.

"No. She's confused about everything at the moment; she doesn't know what she wants."

"I see."

"So?"

"What?"

"You and Merle, is that exclusive?"

"I have strong feelings for him...but I have feelings for you too."

"Is it going to hurt him if we keep things up between us? He's my brother, so if he's falling for you, I'll step back."

"He says he's OK with it," she assured him.

Daryl looked out the window at Merle, bent over and filling the lawnmower with gas, and smiled.

"That was a crazy night," he noted. "I don't want to like kissing you so much, but I do."

Lisbeth wasn't quite sure what he meant, but as she turned to look at him instead of out the window, his expression explained it all.

"Kissing you makes me feel things I wasn't expecting."

He kissed her then, and she could feel the fire of him radiating all over her body. She was torn between the two men, and she wanted them both so badly. They told her they were OK with the arrangement, but it was hard to imagine it not falling apart as every other good thing in her life had before.

Daryl pulled her closer and then pinned her to the refrigerator door in a fit of passion and soon she was lifted up with her legs hugging his waist.

He was so hot and so dominant that she shouldn't have liked it the way she did, but she trusted him completely because of Merle. Merle would never have her with an unsafe man, and she knew it to be true in her heart.

Daryl threaded his fingers into her short hair and bit at her throat like he wanted to possess her entirely, and Lisbeth melted in his arms.

They stopped making out when they heard Merle coming in the back door, but he begged her for some alone time later in the day.

It would take time to come to a sense of normality, but Lisbeth was determined to make it work somehow.

Thoughts of her past came back to her at the strangest times, and she found herself thinking of Mikael and how convinced she'd been that he felt the same. He trusted her with the Vanger case and trusted her with the loan she used to get her hands on Wennerström's money. She remembered thinking that he actually saw her for who she was, but then seeing him with Erika had reminded her that their relationship had existed merely out of convenience. The moment that the case was solved, his life was saved, and Wennerström was dead, she was no longer needed.

Here in the Dixon's arms she was wanted and desired; she wasn't being expected to perform any function for them at all. She almost felt like part of the family with the brothers, and it was a nice feeling, a feeling she hoped she could hold onto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  


  
  


 

 

  
  


 

  
  


 


	9. Feel You Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter where Lisbeth begins to see what she has with Merle and Daryl and she knows that it's worth hanging onto.  
> The song is 'Feel You Closer' by Skydiggers (it's a seriously good song:)  
> Thanks for reading! xo  
> Teagan

_^You used to come over 'round eleven o'clock_

_on a summer's night when the air was hot_

_and I can feel you closer walkin' down my street_

_I can feel you closer; I can feel the heat from you..._

_You used to say that it would never last_

_that the way you felt was sure to pass_

_Still, every night from the top of my street_

_I can see you closer I can feel the heat from you_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 9 – Feel You Closer** _

Daryl went out for groceries after lunch and asked Lisbeth what kinds of foods she liked on his way out the door.

"Pot noodles, anything with sugar...Macdonalds, and coffee?"

"Health nut, huh?" he smirked. "I'll see what I can do."

“Just a second.”

She disappeared downstairs and came back up a few minutes later with $500 in her hand and offered it to him.

"That's an awful lot of money," Daryl exclaimed. "That's more than we spend in a month between just the two of us."

"Take it," she insisted in her noncommittal voice that he couldn't read.

He took Merle's truck and drove to the grocery store with his $200 and her $500 wondering where her money came from; she hadn't mentioned a job at all.

Toccoa was small enough that he saw many of the same people over and over and many of them knew each other's business. He wondered how soon it would be before people became curious about their strange living arrangement with Lisbeth and soon got his answer.

Daryl wandered up and down the aisles of the store, trying to think of something Lisbeth would want to eat when he ran into a man from the night before at _The MetalWorks_. It was a guy he and Merle dealt with occasionally through work and Daryl couldn't really avoid him.

"Hey man! Saw you last night with old Merle," he began.

"How's it going, Kevin?" he said, but he kept his eyes on the shelves.

"Who was that strange lookin' chick you were with?"

"Just a friend, she's staying with me and Merle for a bit," he answered like it was everyday stuff for the Dixon brothers to be housing an odd looking girl that nobody knew.

"She looks like a punk or something," Kevin laughed.

"She just dresses kinda different."

"So which one of you is fucking her?"

"We're all just friends," Daryl repeated, it was nobody's business what Lisbeth did.

"Bullshit, I saw her cuddling up to you and then the next thing she was kissin' Merle out back," he smirked like Daryl was harboring a dark secret.

"Look..." Daryl growled. "Just leave it be, OK?"

"Fine, why so defensive?"

Daryl insisted that he wasn't being defensive and continued on his way with a grumble. He hated confrontation, and it was a somewhat regular occurrence in a small town.

/

Lisbeth took a long shower in the downstairs bathroom and wore a t-shirt and panties upstairs to grab a third cup of coffee. It was nice to have nowhere to be.

"Hey, honey. You OK?" Merle asked when he spotted her, and she gave him that little smile.

"I'm OK. You?"

"I'm happy; I like you being here."

There was no mystery with Merle; he had no guile. Everything that came to his mind was poured out freely, and she found herself swiftly becoming addicted to it. Trying to guess how Mikael felt had just left her guessing wrong and being replaced by another woman.

Lisbeth sat at the kitchen table with her laptop searching her old world for signs of anything falling apart but so far so good.

Nobody in Europe seemed to have a clue where the mystery woman who took the money was, but Lisbeth still considered changing her look so that she wouldn't attract any unnecessary attention. She stuck out like a sore thumb where she was, and now she had something to lose.

"Merle...can you take me to a shop today to buy new clothes?" she asked.

"Sure. We'll have to drive to the city to find anything like what you wear."

"I want something different," she said. "I want to blend in a little more."

"Really? I can't even imagine you looking different," he smiled.

"I just want to try something new."

"Whatever you want," he smiled.

Daryl walked in then with his arms full of groceries and Lisbeth got up to help him.

Load after load they soon had a kitchen floor covered in bags and Daryl insisted he was going to make her some 'real food.'

"Real food?"

"BBQ chicken and all the fixins','" he grinned.

They all put groceries away and then Merle said he was taking her clothes shopping, which baffled Daryl as well.

"Good luck finding anything interesting here," he chuckled.

"Normal is what I'm going for," she nodded.

Merle drove her to downtown Toccoa and walked her into the first clothing store he found hoping that nobody would react strangely to her. He felt protective of her already.

She had on her ripped jeans and a concert t-shirt for a band he didn't know, all the writing was in Swedish.

"May I help you?" the older woman behind the counter asked.

"I'm OK," Lisbeth answered without making eye contact.

Merle could see how out of place she felt so he stood guard as she sifted through plain clothing to find anything that would fit her.

"I don't know what size I wear in this country," she sighed.

The woman behind the counter overheard her and interjected softly to help her out.

"You look like a size 2 to me, maybe a 4 in some things," the shopkeeper smiled.

"Thank you," Lisbeth answered in a hushed tone. "I want to fit in here...can you help?"

In only a moment the shopkeeper had an armful of clothing for her and led her to a change room to try it all on.

Merle sat on a chair outside the change room, and when she walked out in a long sleeved red shirt and a pair of jeans, he smiled at her. She looked normal, and he realized he didn't care what she wore, he just liked her.

"You look real pretty," he beamed.

"I feel strange. Do I look like everyone else yet?"

"You're prettier than everyone else," he grinned.

"Merle, come on," she sighed.

"Yeah, you'll fit in just fine like that," he chuckled.

She looked at herself in the mirror, pulled at the extra material at the waist of the jeans and frowned.

"You just need a 2 in those jeans, dear. I'll grab it for you."

"I can't put on weight...is it unattractive?" she asked Merle when the woman left them alone.

"You couldn't be unattractive if you tried," he answered honestly. "I love the way you look."

Nothing from Merle sounded like hyperbole, it all sounded like he meant every word.

"I've had a stressful year," she sighed.

"Maybe this year will be better," he suggested without asking her why the last year had been so stressful. He promised himself he wouldn't pry and push her away.

Lisbeth tried on clothes for an hour and even bought new underwear and a few bras. She handed over cash without a second thought and then offered to take Merle for lunch.

"I want to see if this new look works," she said.

"What do you mean, 'works'?"

"I don't want people to harass you about me."

"You didn't have to change for us, I thought you wanted this for you," he said, sitting down in the truck to start it up.

"I did...it's OK."

Lisbeth took Merle for lunch, and she wore her new clothes to the restaurant.

The jeans were a light wash and all the tops she bought covered her tattoos, all except the little wasp on her neck. She even brushed her hair down that morning, and if you squinted a little, she did fit in. Her top was blue and had a few buttons down the front; it was plain and simple as you could get.

"You look good," Merle insisted. "I like your other clothes too, though."

"Can I ask you something personal?"

"Ask me anything."

"Why are you and Daryl not married?" she asked.

"It's a small town, and we just haven't found the right women here."

"Oh."

Lisbeth wanted to hear about his ex-girlfriend, the one who had broken his heart, luckily he mentioned it without her having to ask.

"Daryl never had a steady woman in his life, and I only ever had Andrea...that ended about a year ago. She said we grew apart, but I think she just fell out of love with me."

"I'm sorry, Merle."

"It's OK. I fought like hell to keep her so at least I can sleep at night knowing I tried, right?"

"I was hurt by someone too," she said, reaching across the table to touch his hand. "I thought he wanted to be with me and then he went back to his ex unexpectedly."

Merle squeezed her hand then a funny smile crossed his lips.

"It's their loss, hey?"

"And our gain," she agreed.

They continued to eat, and she asked him about his living situation with Daryl and why they chose to stay living together.

"We just like living together I guess. We had a shitty childhood, so we've always been close."

Lisbeth already knew the basics of the story from her snooping around, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Our dad was an evil person; he beat us both senseless whenever it tickled him."

"Is he still alive?" she asked as if she wanted to hunt him down right then and there.

"No, he's dead now, and our mother is in a home...she had a stroke a few years back."

"There are so many bad people in this world...I'm sorry that happened to you," she offered.

"We survived," he smiled. "No matter what happened when we were kids, we always had each other. Me and Daryl spent all our time in the woods to keep out of the way, and we had some good times."

"What did you do in the woods?" she asked, wanting to complete the picture in her mind of a young Daryl and Merle.

"We'd fish and hunt, make tree forts, and camp...we had our own world out there where nothing else mattered," he sighed, and she could see that he was reliving it with fondness.

"Do you still go to the woods?" she asked.

"It's hard to find the time, but we go when we can. We had a dream to build a cabin in the woods when we first graduated high school, but it was just a pipe dream."

"It could still happen," she smiled.

"That would be a little slice of heaven," he grinned. "Just a place to get away from it all and unwind...I wonder if Daryl remembers all the stupid dreams we had."

"I'm sure he does," she insisted.

Lisbeth wanted them to have their cabin, and if she could think of a way to tell them about her past, she would also give them the money for their dream to come true. She never needed the money she'd taken; it was more of a challenge to take it than anything else. If the money could bring them happiness, then that's what she wanted. All Lisbeth wanted for herself was freedom, and she had that now.

/

There was pain in her past, Merle would bet money on it, but he was happy to let her speak about it when and if she wanted to.

"My father was a terrible person as well," she began, and he was surprised to hear something personal.

"We have that in common," Merle added.

Lisbeth looked around the diner and noted that nobody was paying attention; she wanted to open up to Merle, she trusted that he wouldn't judge her too harshly.

"He was dangerous and violent so...I did something about it when I was a child."

"What did you do?"

"I tried to kill him, and I almost succeeded."

She felt immediate regret for telling Merle something so ugly; she had no idea how he would react.

 

 

 

 


	10. Lovers in a Dangerous Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lisbeth tells the Dixon's her truth and is met with a surprising reaction:)  
> The song is 'Lovers in a Dangerous Time' by Bruce Cockburn
> 
> It's not vital that you know all of her past but if you haven't seen the movie 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" the basic plot points are:  
> \- at the age of 12, Lisbeth sets her father on fire for constant abuse of her mother, even causing her mother to sustain a traumatic brain injury.  
> \- because of the attack, she is sent to an institution for violent young offenders and is treated badly in multiple foster homes  
> \- she is appointed a guardian by the system as an adult when she is released and the first she is assigned is Holger Palmgren who is a wonderful man and very kind to her.  
> \- When Holger Palmgren suffers a stroke she is reassigned to Nils Bjurman who violently rapes her in exchange for her to receive her own rightful money. (she does get revenge on him in the film but I won't spoil that)  
> \- as an adult, she is a private investigator and is hired to work with Mikael on a 40-year-old case involving a missing girl and they stumble upon a serial killer case wrapped up in the Vanger family.  
> \- Lisbeth begins a relationship with Mikael as they work on the case and ends up saving Mikael's life when they get too close to uncovering Martin Vanger's crimes.  
> \- She ends up going on a mission to reclaim (steal) money from a man who sued Mikael previously for slander and it appears that after the Vanger case is solved they can continue their relationship but Mikael suddenly goes back to his ex without any thought for Lisbeth and he breaks her heart.  
> \- Basically, she had a sad past, committed a few justified but violent acts in defense of people she loved and stole a huge amount of money.

_Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by_

_we never get to stop and open our eyes_

_One minute you're waiting for the sky to fall_

_and next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all_

_When you're lovers in a dangerous time_

_Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime_

_Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight_

_gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight_

 

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 10** _

To her dismay, Merle didn't bear any of the expressions she expected. He didn't look surprised, disgusted, afraid; he didn't look like his feelings for her had changed at all.

"Aren't you going to ask how I could do such a thing?"

"You wouldn't hurt anyone unless you had to, Lisbeth, and you did say he was violent."

She shook her head and felt a slow burning down in the depths of her heart. All her life, people had presumed the worst of her and here was this kind, sweet man presuming the best.

"I did have to, I assure you."

"I know," he smiled, reaching his hand across the table to touch hers.

"How?"

"Because I can see it in you and I can feel it when I'm with you...you're a good person."

His blue eyes could see right through her, and it's just the kind of thing that would normally make her want to run away. Instead, his eyes made her want to stay forever.

/

Later that day Daryl took a tray of chicken into the backyard and fired up the BBQ, he was going to make this foreign girl some good American grub if it took all evening.

He had just placed all of the meat on the grill when he was confronted by a few guys he knew from town, led by Kevin. Having a bunch of them turn up in his backyard wasn't way out of the ordinary but the looks on their faces said it wasn't a friendly visit.

"Dixon, you got a minute?" Kevin began.

"Yeah, what is it?"

A man pushed his way through from the back of the group and Daryl didn't recognize him.

"I heard you, and your brother brought my girlfriend back here with that weirdo the other night!"

"Nadine?" Daryl asked.

"Yes, Nadine! What happened with ya'll? She won't say a damn word!" he bellowed.

"It's not for me to go telling her business, and besides, she said you weren't going out anymore anyway."

Daryl couldn't wrap his head around these fools thinking they could turn up and intimidate him like this.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Daryl exclaimed.

Being confronted by a complete stranger in his own backyard was obnoxious as hell.

"Caden Birch; my dad is on the force here in Toccoa, and maybe he'd like to know what you creeps are pulling with drunk women!"

"Get the fuck outta here! She's a grown woman, and she was not drunk. She'd had a couple, but she was not drunk!"

Daryl could understand if the guy was a jealous twit, but he wasn't about to stand there and be called a rapist.

"That girl you got living here is a freak and a dyke! She was seen dancing with Nadine at the bar! You people are all sickos!" Caden raged.

"Give it a rest! You just lost her, get over it!" Daryl shot back.

The man wound up and punched him square in the jaw, throwing him for a loop and leaving him dizzy for a moment.

Merle arrived with Lisbeth in time to see it, but it wasn't Merle or Daryl that ended it.

"Hey!" Lisbeth began, laying her bags on the grass and approaching the man in front of Daryl.

"Back off, whatever you are!" Caden sneered, looking down at her with disdain.

Lisbeth turned and pushed Daryl back out of the way then kicked him in the shins, leaving him howling in shock.

"What the fuck kind of move was that?" he barked.

"Get out of here and don't come back!" she instructed in a dry tone. "I'll make you sorry if you ever mess with us again."

"Got a little gay chick fighting your battles you bunch of pussies?"

Lisbeth kicked him one more time in the kidneys just as he was straightening out and he told her he was going to call the police.

"You threw the first punch, everyone saw it. You going to tell them a little dyke kicked your ass?" she growled.

"I ain't hitting a woman! If that is what you are."

The mob dispersed, and Daryl still couldn't believe what he'd seen.

"You're bleeding," she noticed. "Come inside."

Lisbeth grabbed her bags and walked casually into the house.

"I'll finish up the food, Daryl, you go ahead with her," Merle said, still stunned by the strangest sight he'd ever seen.

/

Lisbeth sat him on the seat of the toilet and folded a few tissues, instructing him to hold pressure on the cut he had on his upper cheek.

"It's just a superficial cut; it should heal fine. Are you OK?"

"I wasn't expecting you to jump in and defend me like that," he said, watching her dig through the medicine cupboard for first aid supplies.

"I've been fighting all my life in one way or another," she sighed.

"You have a story to tell, don't you?"

"Yes...but first we need to take care of this."

She tended to his wound and then surprised him with a slow hug.

"I'm sorry to bring you trouble, Daryl."

"It's just a bunch of morons, that big idiot was Nadine's ex."

"Trouble tends to follow me wherever I go."

"I don't think it's anything to panic about, honey."

"Being here with you and Merle has been such a good thing for me."

"Then stick around," he winked.

Lisbeth didn't know if she could stay when things were going down the drain already, but she would if she could.

She kissed him softly and held his face in her hands.

"It's so selfish of me to want both of you, but I just can't help it," she sighed.

"As long as it ain't bothering Merle, I'm fine with it. We don't need to run our choices by anyone, Lisbeth, we're all grown ups."

Being able to make all of her own choices was still a little new. She had been more than capable of caring for herself for years but with her sentence imposed guardianship she had never had the opportunity. Bjurman had been her final guardian, and she still controlled him from afar. She would never let Bjurman out from under her thumb after the way he had attacked her; she would never forget that he was a threat to other women. Holger Palmgren was the one person in her youth that she could trust and who allowed her to live with any sense of autonomy, his guardianship had been her one blessing, and she missed him.

Daryl helped Merle with the rest of the cooking, and they presented her with a plate of BBQ heaven with corn, greens, and beans.

"Thank you, men," she teased as she lay a napkin across her lap.

Merle watched in quiet fascination as the tiny woman plowed through more food than he could manage in one sitting.

She licked BBQ sauce from her fingers and ate corn from the cob like she was starving and he loved it.

"Are we gonna talk about these clothes?" Daryl asked, finally pointing at her new get up.

"I want to blend in," she nodded, reaching for another piece of chicken.

"I miss all the black already," he shrugged.

It was then that the other option came to her, maybe they could leave together and start over somewhere new, maybe she could tell them about the money she'd taken now. If they started over somewhere that she didn't stand out, it could work, but it felt wrong to ask them to consider leaving.

She finished eating and poured them all a scotch; it was time to lay it all on the line.

"I need to tell you both about me," she began as they settled into the living room later that evening. "I told Merle a little of it this afternoon but there's more....so much more and I don't know where to begin."

"You can tell us anything, we aren't here to judge you," Daryl assured her.

She let it all out, piece by piece, scotch after scotch.

Lisbeth told them about her father, the fire, the institutions, the foster families, Holger Palmgren and even a brief account of Nils Bjurman. The subject of Bjurman and the sexual attack she had suffered was still hard for her to think of so she kept that part of the story undetailed.

Setting her own father ablaze at the age of 12 was not something she could tell others about with ease, even if she didn't regret it. Holger had been the only one she ever truly opened up to about her troubled youth. She had wanted to open up to Mikael, but now that he was back with Erika she knew it just wasn't to be.

"I'm not dangerous," she said when she had finally finished revealing her past to them. "There is a little more that you should know, and it's more pertinent to the future."

"I had a feeling you had a story but nothing like this," Merle mused.

She told them about Henrik Vanger and about taking out Martin to save Mikael. It looked as though they couldn't quite process it, but they did believe her. She was getting a little tired from unloading her life experiences upon them, but it was a catharsis that she knew she needed.

"Martin was a killer of women...so many women. I cannot stand for anyone who victimizes innocent women, I never could."

"You're a hero," Daryl smiled.

"I don't know about that."

"No, you are."

Next, she unloaded on them about the money she'd taken from Wennerström, and the brothers just stared at each other in dismay. It was impossible that their Lisbeth was also this person, but they knew damn well it had to be true.

"You really got millions of dollars?" Merle asked.

"Yes."

"So what's next for you?" Merle inquired, hoping that she wasn't about to run.

"I don't know, but I seem to be drawing negative attention here for you, and I'm trying to be discreet for obvious reasons."

"I hope you aren't thinking of leaving us," Daryl said.

"Perhaps you both could come with me if I have to go...is that crazy?"

  


  


 

  


 

  


 


	11. I Do This For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conflict is coming soon but I wanted to establish the relationship between these three before things go off the rails:)  
> The song is 'I do this for you' by Marlene  
> Thanks for reading:) I'm posting daily now:)  
> Love ya! Teagan xoxo

_Look at me down to every pixel_  
_Do you really get the whole picture?_  
_Watching 3D, color by color_  
_There's more than all this pretty_  
_If you look under the cover_

 _I do this for you. I only do this for you_  
_I do this for you; I only do this for you_

 _Can't you see me, I'll go down later_  
_I'm not hiding under no filter_  
_I set my heart on fire to make my love shine brighter_  
_I'd give it all if you're ready to take it_

 _I do this for you; I only do this for you_  
_I do this for you; I only do this for you_

* * *

_ **Chapter 11 - I Do This For You**_

Merle was overwhelmed by what Lisbeth had to say, and so he excused himself for a moment to think it all through in the backyard. Lisbeth sat with Daryl in the living room and asked if maybe she should have kept it to herself, but Daryl insisted that she had it all wrong.

"If I know my brother, and I do. He's out there counting his lucky stars that you aren't leaving him. I think he's been scared that you might just disappear one day."

"Really?"

"He's got it bad for you."

"Merle is a good man, he has my heart already...but so do you," she added softly.

Daryl nodded and leaned back on the couch to process everything.

"We're all a little messed up in this," he said finally. "But it's a mess I don't wanna get out of."

"Neither do I."

Lisbeth came closer to lean her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. When Merle came back in, he looked happy and calm.

"Sorry about that," he began. "It was a lot to take in."

"It's fine," Lisbeth answered.

"I thought about what you said, and I'd go anywhere to be with you and Daryl."

"I, for one, don't mind leaving this shithole one little bit," Daryl chuckled.

"If things get any hairier then we should maybe go," she said. "I'll start looking into places we could be happy...some place remote perhaps."

"Anywhere you are is fine with me," Merle smiled. "I think I'm gonna crash if that's cool with you guys, I got a bit of a headache."

"You OK?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yeah, I took a pill, but it's all these late nights I think. I just need a good night's sleep."

"I'll come tuck you in," she said, following him to his room.

Merle peeled off his clothes and crawled under the covers.

He was so strong and sexy that she wanted to touch him, but he did look pretty exhausted.

She sat down on the bed next to him and turned off the lamp.

"Everything OK with us?" she asked.

"It's all good, honey.

I think you and me and Daryl could be happy and...it's the weirdest thing but, I don't mind you being with him at all."

"You're not the jealous type?"

"I usually am, but I don't feel the need to make you belong to me. I just want to be some part of your world if I can, and Daryl is my best friend as well as my brother, so I want him to be happy too."

"There's nobody else like you, Merle...I love you."

Merle smiled up at her and touched her face.

She hadn't said those words in ages, not since she was a small child saying it to her mother. She wished she had told Holger that she loved him before the stroke, or afterward, but it felt forced then. Lisbeth knew that she loved Merle, even if it happened so soon. He had stolen her heart with the way he just told her the truth and didn't hide his feelings. Merle lay it all out so honestly and didn't play any mind games with her, and after Mikael, she loved it so much more.

"I love you too, and I want you to know that all that stuff about your past only makes me feel more respect for you. You're a fighter, Lisbeth."

"I always had to fight; it's nice that I don't have to right now."

"You staying with Daryl tonight then?" he grinned as a yawn overtook him.

"I think so."

"See you in the morning, honey. I'll make us pancakes," he winked.

"Goodnight, my man."

"Night, honey."

/

Lisbeth decided to bring Daryl down to her room so they wouldn't disturb Merle and he seemed to agree with the idea.

"I need a quick shower," she said, stripping out of the new clothes and revealing the tattoos he loved so much.

"Am I invited?"

Lisbeth looked up to see his burning glare, and she couldn't refuse him in a million years. There was this animalistic look to him when he was aroused that made her feel weak with need. His eyes would squint, and he'd breathe a little deeper and slower like he was about to sprint after his prey. Daryl was unbound sexuality and lust, and yet she trusted him entirely because of Merle. It was so refreshing to allow a dominant man to take control and she found that she loved it. Bjurman had made it hard to trust strength in a man, but Daryl wasn't Bjurman by a long shot.

"Come," she winked as she walked toward the bathroom.

Lisbeth was acting so girly, and she didn't recognize the new sides of her being unearthed by the Dixons, but she liked it. Daryl followed her to the bathroom and began to undress slowly before her eyes like a dream coming to reality. His strong chest and muscular arms were uncovered first, and she pulled him to her mouth to kiss her way across his chest from one shoulder to the other.

Next, his hands went for his belt, and he dropped his jeans and boxers for her to reveal his already throbbing cock.

"You want this, Lisbeth?" he growled, looking down at the perfectly hard manhood he possessed.

"I need it."

Daryl started the water running nice and hot and pulled her into a kiss as they moved under the spray. Daryl filled her mouth, bit at her lips, pulled her head back to lick her throat and then turned her around to pin her to the shower tile.

"Keep your hands on the wall," he instructed, but it was 100% sexy and not intimidating at all.

"So bossy," she giggled.

Daryl kissed her wet neck and pressed his body against her back, teasing her ass cheek with his desperate erection. His hands crept around the front of her body and cupped her breasts as he began with more instructions.

"Spread your legs for me."

She took a step to the side and then his hand was right there, teasing her and pulling weakened moans from deep inside her. Lisbeth hissed and tried to push her ass back against him to spur him on. She wanted him to impale her from behind, to take her and fuck her beyond her limits.

He fingered her, and her legs felt weak from the precision of his skill. Daryl teased her clit next, and she grabbed his head behind the neck to keep him close, she needed him close. Lisbeth's hand moved behind her own back and claimed his cock before he could protest, and she proceeded to jerk him off slow and sexy.

"Are you going to fuck me, Mr. American?"

"Not yet, you little Swedish meatball," he laughed.

Daryl somehow managed to keep her right on the edge until they got out of the shower and then he tossed her on her bed to really let her have it.

"Open those legs, girl."

"You have a bad mouth," she grinned.

"Don't like dirty talk?"

"I love it, don't stop."

Lisbeth had never heard herself giggle out loud, a girl who giggled was free and safe and extremely happy, and she never had felt any of those things before. In that moment she giggled under Daryl and covered her face, she felt like someone else for a moment.

"That's pretty," he sighed, looking down at her.

"What?"

"You look...happy."

"I am, you make me very happy," she said in a more serious tone looking up into his eyes.

Daryl didn't do these long meaningful stares and lovey dovey talk, so he buried his face in her neck and went right back to what he knew best sex. Daryl wanted to see how needy he could get her, so he decided to tease it out of her.

"Touch those perfect breasts for me, and tell me when you can't take this anymore."

Daryl watched as her legs opened before his eyes and her fingers danced over her nipples seductively. He took his massive cock in his hand and teased the head over her wet lips and immediately she was writhing.

"You're evil," she panted.

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

Daryl paused with his dick right at her entrance and his eyes fixated on the sight of it. Her wet lips, cradling the tip of his leaking cock and glistening in the dim light coming in through the door...he was dying so sweetly. Then his dick trailed slowly up her wet slit to her clitoris and tapped her there to draw a long and agonizing whine from her mouth.

"Please...."

"Soon."

Daryl penetrated her then, but only an inch or so before pulling out and she almost sobbed at the deprivation. He repeated all of these things a few more times until she was panting and squirming in heat like an animal. He grinned at the way she was letting go of her typical swagger and allowing him to tease her into a stupor; he loved that she was feeling so free.

"You want me deep inside you, honey."

"Yes."

Daryl asked her for a condom, and she scrambled to grab one from her makeup case for him. The condom was slid down his dick, and he thrust into her so swiftly that she gratefully sighed at the sense of fulfillment deep within her.

"Fuuuuuck!" she breathed as he scooped her up into his lap where she began to ride him wildly.

Daryl took her breasts and sucked them one after the other; his tongue, tasting the sweetness of her skin and the cool metallic taste of the piercing as his lips craved the sensation of her erect nipples in his mouth. She was there, she was right there on the edge, and he was determined to throw her over that precipice.

He wanted her screaming and trembling with only the fear of death surpassing it in intensity. Daryl felt the familiar clench of her pussy as it erupted within her and her womanhood began to milk the cum from him so perfectly. She rode it out swift and rolled her hips with determination to get every single drop of ecstasy out of a perfect moment.

“That's right, baby, you ride that cock for me.”

“Uh...fuck...Mmmmm!”

She clawed at his back leaving fresh pink tracks, claiming his flesh as her own, her moans flooding the entire room. The lust, the thrashing and all consuming orgasm, the almost immediate hunger for more even as her pussy still twitched with release.

"Oh Christ, Daryl! Oh, Fuck!"

Daryl came hard and loud, pulling her down on his dick, gripping her waist with his strong hands.

/

He lay her down on the bed when it was over and felt honored by her full grin and the thin layer of sweat that lay on her porcelain skin like dew drops.

“Satisfied?” he chuckled.

“You and Merle will be the death of me...but such sweet death,” she whispered.

 

 


	12. Right Down The Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This song is 'Right Down The Line' by Gerry Rafferty:) it's a super good song!  
> Thanks for reading:)  
> Teagan xoxo

_You know I need your love, you got that hold over me_  
_Long as I got your love, you know that I'll never leave_  
_When I wanted you to share my life, I had no doubt in my mind_  
_And it's been you, woman, right down the line_  
  
_I know how much I lean on you, only you can see_  
_Changes that I've been through have left their mark on me_  
_You've been as constant as a northern star, the brightest light that shines_  
_It's been you, woman, right down the line_  
  
_I just wanna say this is my way_  
_Of telling you everything I could never say before_  
_Yeah, this is my way_  
_Of telling you that every day I'm loving you so much more_

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 12 – Right Down The Line** _

Life between the three of them eased into a pleasant routine over the next week, and Lisbeth was starting to believe it could work long term. They hadn't received any more grief from Caden and his merry band of idiots, so the drama appeared to be over.

Lisbeth kept thinking about Daryl and Merle in the woods as children and even came across some pictures of them in an old album. She settled on a picture of Merle standing tall and proud with a dead animal she didn't recognize held high in the air and little Daryl next to him smiling admiringly. They were in the woods in all of the pictures, and they looked so happy there. Lisbeth needed for them to have a cabin in the woods; she wanted to give them some of the peace they'd given her.

Merle and Daryl went to work while she took care of the house and continued to keep tabs on her past via her laptop. It was the strangest thing in the world for her to feel like a housewife with them. Lisbeth never imagined herself in a role anything like the one she was fulfilling. She prepared food and did some laundry and even watched a little mindless daytime TV for a novelty. Being this domesticated was surreal, but it was nice to stop for once. Her whole life had been fighting back, running away, and covering herself in protective layers. With Merle and Daryl and the safety of their home, she was discovering who Lisbeth was when there was nothing to fight, nothing to run from.

/

Daryl and Merle found themselves at work mid-week discussing how normal it felt to have her in their lives already. They both had bag lunches packed by her that very morning, and Daryl laughed at the food she'd given them.

"She keeps putting Pop Tarts in my lunch, I haven't eaten those since I was 12," Merle grinned.

"Lucky bastard. I made the mistake of saying I want to try Swedish food, so she gave me meatballs and something called Gravlax? It smells bloody awful! I don't even know where she found it in a place like Toccoa."

"She made it herself I think. She was messing around in the kitchen last night while you were out for a ride. Here," Merle chuckled, handing him a strawberry Pop Tart."

"Thanks."

"So what the hell is Gravlax anyway?"

"Pickled salmon from the smell of it," Daryl laughed, tossing the bag into the garbage. "Tell her I liked it."

"She'll just give it to you again if I say that," Merle snickered.

"I just realized something...a couple of weeks ago we were both single, and now it's like we're married to the same woman," Daryl mused.

"It's weird, huh?"

"It doesn't seem weird when we're all together though; it feels really normal actually."

Merle knew exactly what he meant, it was weird, but it felt right and natural.

"As long as we're all OK with it then it don't matter if it's weird," Merle said.

"I never really did care what other people thought. Why start now?" Daryl grinned.

"Daryl?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember all those plans we had after graduation?"

"You mean the cabin and all that?"

Merle was just happy that he remembered.

"Yeah."

"What made you think of that?"

"You think we could have done it?"

"Probably, but by the time college fell through for me and we ended up working here...I guess we just got too busy to pursue it."

"It would have been awesome to have a place in the middle of nowhere to just get away from everything and hunt, hey?"

Merle's eyes connected with Daryl's and the moment lingered a little longer than usual.

"It would have been perfect," Daryl nodded.

/

Merle took Lisbeth for breakfast while Daryl worked on his bike that Saturday and she watched as he wolfed his food.

“Hungry man this morning?” she commented.

“I love me some strawberry waffles,” he grinned.

Lisbeth had her laptop with her and was checking the news out of Sweden when she noticed a man across the diner looking at her funny. Her life had trained her to recognize cops a million miles away, and she tried to not look suspicious. She was still wearing her new clothing as a way to go unnoticed, but it appeared to be failing with the way the stranger was eyeing her. The gray long sleeved shirt and jeans she had on could never completely hide that she was different. The man had medium brown hair and eyes that looked friendly and yet devious to her, and he continuously looked up from his plate, directly at her.

“Who's that man by the door?” she asked.

Merle turned and looked over at him, confirming her suspicions.

“Sheriff Blake...why?”

“He's looking at me funny.”

“He's just a weirdo, I think he looks at everyone funny,” Merle chuckled, returning to his breakfast.

Perhaps she was paranoid, but her instincts were normally trustworthy.

Merle got up to use the bathroom, and Sheriff Blake immediately came over to 'chat.'

“I know everyone in this town, but I'm sure I don't know you,” he grinned widely.

“I'm just visiting,” she said casually.

“Sheriff Phillip Blake,” he responded, holding his hand out to her.

“Nice to meet you.”

Lisbeth shook his hand and told him her name was Jane.

“Jane. That's a pretty name. You can't be from here with that accent.”

“No.”

Merle made it back to the table, and she closed her laptop swiftly as she stood up to leave.

“You ready to go?” Merle asked, looking concerned.

“Yes, I don't feel so well.”

Lisbeth was glad Merle didn't use her name, but they had to get out of there before she gave anything away.

She had everything planned out to a T when she collected Wennerström's money across the globe from multiple banks, but she hadn't expected to be questioned in Toccoa of all places.

“Well, Jane, I hope I'll be seeing more of you around before you go,” Phillip nodded.

“Sure,” she answered and then headed straight for the door with Merle.

/

“He knows something,” she insisted when they got into Merle's truck.

“I don't know about that; he's a bit of a creep with everyone.”

“He just zeroed in on me like that...he knows something.”

“What do you want to do then?”

“I'm going to get moving on finding us somewhere else. Are you still sure you'd want to leave your home for me?”

“Lisbeth, I got nothing in this town, but bad memories and Daryl, and Daryl would be coming with us. The question is, are you sure you want to drag us along with you?”

She looked over at his hands on the wheel of the truck and smiled to herself; this time she'd be open, and she knew it was safe.

“I've never had peace in my life...I could never open up to anyone except Holger, but Sweden is gone for me now. You and Daryl welcomed me into your home and offered me acceptance and peace. Of course, I want you with me.”

“Then let's find somewhere new to call home,” he smiled.

/

Lisbeth searched all over the US via the internet, and a bunch of places looked good to her, but then she thought of Canada. She'd seen images of the Rocky Mountains in a magazine at the institute and remembered being left mesmerized by the scale of it. The mountains and the forests, the clear blue waters and the snow; Canada seemed so pure and untouched to her. After some searching, she found a place in northern Alberta for sale, and she knew she could get them all passports and a flight there within days.

Her hacker skills could always be trusted to get her where she needed to be, gain her the information she needed, and protect her from her enemies. The home was more of a hunting lodge than anything, and she imagined them both hunting in the woods, fishing in the crystal blue lake nearby, and being one with the earth. They'd never have to work again with the money she'd taken; it could be perfect.

The home was massive and beautifully decorated in rustic touches that felt like they fit in the surroundings. Her heart settled on it almost immediately, and she tossed around whether or not to surprise them or show them beforehand. She scanned through all the photos and the stone fireplace, second-floor deck, and private yard clinched it; Lisbeth knew her men could be happy there. She wasn't always good with words; this gift would say 'I love you' better than she ever could with only words.

She remembered trying to show her affections for Mikael and the memory burned. She had stood there with a gentle snow falling in the dark and watched Mikael link arms with Erika, and her heart filled up with sadness. She had imagined showing up with the jacket she had bought for him and being invited in, maybe they would make love and he would hold her all night like a real girlfriend, but it wasn't to be. Mikael had fooled her into believing that what they'd had during the Vanger case could be more and she recalled feeling humiliated by her feelings for him when she saw him with Erika. It was a little scary to dive in with Merle and Daryl and risk being hurt again, but she couldn't resist trying for happiness with them, even if it was the most unorthodox relationship around.

 

 


	13. It's You I'm Seeing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know...there's a lot of sex in this story, but I'd like to think there's enough plot to hold all the smut together into a real story. lol  
> I just think in a new relationship there tends to be a lot of sex because it's new and exciting and in this case, you have two Dixons (both very sexual) and Lisbeth who is pretty sexual herself. They do tend to have sex with her alone for the most part but there will be a few occasions where they are all together again.  
> Thanks for reading:) Teagan xoxo  
> The song is 'Haunted' by Shane MacGowan and Sinead O'Connor.

_Do you remember that sunny day?_

_Somewhere in London_

_In the middle of nowhere_

_Didn't have nothing to do that day_

_Didn't wanna do nothing anyway_

 

_You got a way of walking_

_You got a way of talking_

_And there's something about you_

_And now I know I never ever_

_Want to be without you_

 

_I wanna be haunted by the ghost_

_I wanna be haunted by the ghost_

_of your precious love_

 

* * *

 

_ **Chapter 13 – It's You I'm Seeing** _

On Monday, on their way home from work Daryl and Merle saw lights flashing in the rearview mirror of Merle's truck and pulled over to the shoulder of the old dirt road.

“I wasn't even speeding,” Merle huffed as he dug out his wallet to get his license and registration.

Daryl turned to see Sheriff Blake headed toward them and he knew then that Lisbeth's paranoia was justified.

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” he asked as Merle rolled the window down.

“Can't say that I do,” Merle replied.

“You got a tail light out.”

Merle frowned and looked in the side view mirror.

“Didn't even notice that I'll fix it tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sheriff Blake nodded.

“How much longer is your visitor staying...Lisbeth, right?”

“Uh...”

Merle knew then that it wasn't a secret anymore and then he remembered that Caden's father worked for the police force. Lisbeth had told him her name was Jane, and that was clearly known to be a lie. Phillip Blake obviously knew everything and was digging for information for a fellow officer.

“Not sure when she's going...probably soon.”

“She doesn't really seem to fit in around here, does she?”

“I guess not.”

“People around here are kinda set in their ways, but those ways work, don't you think?” he continued, and Merle could feel dread seeping in.

This guy knew everything, and he was now toying with him.

“Yep.”

Merle wasn't about to argue when all he wanted to do was get the hell away from the situation. Daryl was on the verge of bickering with him, Merle could feel it, and he hoped he wouldn't start his fool mouth running.

“Caden isn't too happy about Nadine winding up at your house the other night. I don't know what kind of lesbian orgy shit you guys have going on, but I'd recommend staying away from Nadine, you hear me?”

“Sure thing,” Merle nodded.

“Loud and clear.”

“Good. So we understand each other?”

“Absolutely.”

“Say goodbye to your visitor when she leaves....hopefully soon,” Sheriff Blake added.

“Will do.”

"You know...when she lied about her name it kinda threw me for a loop.

This town ain't so big that I wouldn't find out her real name."

Merle had no idea how to respond, so he didn't.

"Makes you wonder why some weird looking woman would float into town from a foreign country and lie about who she is...seems like the kind of thing a criminal would do."

"She's not, I assure you," Merle began.

"If she is, I'll soon figure it out.

Keeping this town safe is my job, and I don't like this business with Nadine, and I don't like being lied to."

"Of course."

"Well...goodnight, fellas!"

He morphed right back into 'friendly Sheriff Blake' mode, and it gave Merle the chills. He had always found him creepy, but this was a whole other level. A minute later the police cruiser was pulling out and headed on down the road ahead of them.

“What kind of pussy shit was that?” Daryl exclaimed.

“I didn't hear you saying anything!” Merle defended.

“Shut up!”

“You shut up!”

Merle rolled his eyes at the childish bickering and gave Daryl a good hard punch on the shoulder to make up. Daryl laughed, and for a very brief second Merle recalled the feeling of his hands on his brother's face and being pulled closer to him. He shook his head to dismiss the memory and fired up the engine to get back home to Lisbeth.

There was no question that they had to go now, the sooner, the better.

/

“I've never lived anywhere but Toccoa,” Merle mused as he settled into bed with Lisbeth that night.

He told her all about Sheriff Blake, and it was decided that they'd be leaving as soon as possible. Daryl was crashed in the living room upstairs in front of the TV. He was freaking out a little, but he was hard to talk to when he was stressed, so they left him to think it through.

“It'll be really different for you,” she noted. “What do you think about Canada?”

“Do I need to learn French?” he chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“No, it would be Alberta...I found a place for you and Daryl, a place that might be perfect for you.”

“Yeah?”

“That's all I'm saying,” she teased.

“I trust you, honey,” he smiled. “I'd go anywhere with you and Daryl anyway.”

Merle lay his hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead, the future was uncertain, but he didn't care. Outside it began to rain, and Lisbeth closed her eyes to take in the moment as it unfolded. Merle knew everything about her, and he was still holding her close to him and running his fingertips up and down her arm, he accepted her. When she opened her eyes, she was struck by the heat in his stare and the love, the visible love.

“You look at me like it's not really me you're seeing,” she whispered.

“It's you I'm seeing, Lisbeth, and I love what I see,” he countered, moving in to tuck his face in next to her neck.

Lisbeth loved everything about the way Merle spoke to her, the way he touched her and the way he made her feel.

With him she felt like a princess, she'd never felt that way before, and it was almost comical cause nobody would describe her that way.

He breathed her in, and his hand ran down her body to her hip, then further down to her knee till she pulled her leg up around his waist. Merle kissed her collar bones and her neck as she began to breathe slower. She began to grab at him and do her usual fast thing, but he wanted desperately to savor it slowly, he wanted to show her how he really felt.

“Honey...can we slow it down a little?”

“Oh...of course, sorry.”

“Don't be sorry at all. I just wanna make nice slow love to you and really take my time with it...sound good to you?”

“Sounds perfect,” she said softly.

Merle moved over her and kissed her forehead, her cheeks and touched her gently, moving some stray hairs from her face.

“You're so beautiful, honey...so beautiful.”

Lisbeth was under his spell entirely; there was no option but to fall for him. The honesty and kindness would be enough but he was still so masculine and strong, and the way he touched her left her unsteady. She was only in her panties and a black t-shirt, so the sensation of his muscular legs against hers was already making her high, then he added more to the equation.

His hands pulled her legs up onto his lower back, and he lifted her shirt up over her breasts. Merle kissed the soft white skin of her chest, and she held him there with her little hands as a soft sigh left her lips.

He thrust between her legs and could feel the cool, damp material of her panties against his burdensome hard cock.

He let the sweet torture of waiting linger as he licked his way from one pink nipple to the other. She pulled her shirt over her head and let her hands drift down his body to his ass and squeezed it hard, rolling her hips up toward his heat.

“Impatient little thing, huh?” he teased.

“Give it to me...I need it,” she growled, and it made his blood burn through his veins.

“Soon, little one...soon.”

Merle took her hands and lifted them slowly and gently over her head as he bent down to suck her right nipple into his mouth.

“Jesus....oh Jesus....Mmmmm!”

Her hips writhed under him, and he was starting to crack. She kept her hands up as he moved lower and slid her panties down her legs. She wanted his mouth on her, but she equally wanted her mouth on him, so she squirmed out from underneath him.

“What's wrong, honey?” he asked.

“I can't take it anymore, let's both do this,” she grinned.

“Oh yeah? Well, all right then. Come and bring that sweetness down here,” he winked, and she raised her leg over his face and then leaned down to kiss his belly.

Merle looked up at the heaven before him, and his hands settled on her ass as he pulled her down to his hungry mouth.

Merle teased his tongue from her clit to her wet vagina a few times, and then he felt her taking his cock deep into her hot mouth.

“Oh fuuuuck!” he groaned, and his fingers gripped her hips a little tighter.

He wanted to do it up right so he pulled his arms up between her legs so that her legs were spread wide and both of his arms were behind her thighs. Soon he was fingering her as he sucked her lips softly and she was moaning herself silly with her mouth full of his manhood. The vibrations were insane, and he stroked her sweet spot with two fingers and licked her clit as she began to ride his face in a sleepy rhythm. The first twitch of her insides told him she was there, so he sent her over the edge with some moaning of his own, sending the deep vibration through her sweet pussy.

“God damn it, Merle! Oh, fuck! Oh for fuck sakes! Uhhhh!”

She rode his face like his ability to breathe was none of her concern, and he couldn't be happier. Merle clung to her hips and held her there as his tongue just maintained the contact but stopped moving so she could ride her own wave.

Lisbeth flopped onto her back with her feet at the head of the bed, panting and moaning, and then called him over to finish her off.

Merle slid himself between her thighs but then remembered that he didn't have a condom.

“Do you have protection?” he asked.

“I'm clean,” she said.

“I wasn't thinking that, honey...I just thought that you'd want me to use one.”

“Just pull out,” she insisted, pulling him to her mouth for a hot kiss and he just rolled with it. Merle entered her slippery, tight heaven and she quivered under him. He thrust deep and slow, increasing gradually in speed and looked down into her eyes for the answers to all life's questions. Making love to her was an experience like nothing else, she was like no one else.

She moaned and touched his face as he crumbled, and when his face collapsed next to hers on the pillow, she whispered that she loved him again.

Merle remembered Andrea saying that she loved him and that he'd known even as she said it that it wasn't true. It had taken her months to say it, and he knew all along in his heart that it was bullshit. He tried so hard to make himself believe her but, in the end, she proved him right. Somehow he was sure that Lisbeth meant her 'I love you' wholeheartedly.

Merle pulled her body to his cheek and fell asleep listening to her heart beating against his ear; he never wanted to let her go. Lisbeth had waltzed right into his life in a bar and stolen his very soul. He was happy to belong to her, even if she didn't only belong to him. Her strength, her vulnerability, her uniqueness, and the very taste of her kiss had Merle hoping that somehow he could keep her in his life forever. He'd follow her wherever he had to; he wasn't letting go of her for anything.

 


	14. A Callback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are leaving right away:) I'm just enjoying writing this so I'm taking a little more time than usual with the plot:)  
> Thank you for reading! xo

_Golden Brown texture like sun  
Lays me down with my mind she runs  
Throughout the night  
No need to fight  
Never a frown with Golden Brown  
  
Every time just like the last  
On her ship tied to the mast  
To distant lands  
Takes both my hands  
Never a frown with Golden Brown  
  
Golden Brown, finer temptress  
Through the ages, she's heading west  
From far away  
Stays for a day_  
 _Never a frown with Golden Brown_  


_** Chapter 14 – A Callback ** _

In the morning, after a cuddlefest with Merle that she could easily get used to, Lisbeth got to work on passports. Daryl made her a coffee and forced her to eat a cinnamon bun as she typed furiously to gain the necessary information for travel documents. Neither of the Dixons had ever been out of the country, so they needed passports in a snap.

“So...you're a hacker too?” Daryl asked as she began printing up papers and accessing secured pages on US government sites.

“Yes,” she nodded as she worked.

“I still don't think we know half of what there is to know about this girl,” Merle chuckled from the living room couch.

“And we're not going to end up in jail?” Daryl winced.

Lisbeth looked up at him, and her eyes squinted slightly in amusement before she spoke.

“I traveled to 5 different countries in 3 days, arranged meetings with high ranking officials at multiple banks, provided appropriate documents to gain access to millions of dollars that didn't belong to me, and they still don't have the slightest clue who committed the crime...I think I can get the three of us to Canada.”

“Touché,” Daryl nodded with an impressed grin.

She took their photos against the kitchen wall and by suppertime, she had most of the documents ready to get them away from Toccoa forever. All she needed now were tickets and she was trying to decide if they should fly together or not. Maybe it would be better for her to travel separately just on the off chance that she was spotted. Lisbeth would never forgive herself if they were apprehended and questioned for her crime. She decided to travel under her own name and her old passport; the odds of random airport staff in the US knowing she was reported missing in Sweden were low.

/

Merle decided that it was probably best if he told their boss that they were 'taking time off to attend a family funeral' so he went to meet Abe for a beer that evening.

Alone in the house, Lisbeth watched as Daryl was apparently trying to wrap his mind around everything. She couldn't shake the feeling that he had doubts, he looked on edge.

“What about my bike?” he asked out of the blue.

“There's a storage unit coming so you can put everything you want inside, and then a truck drives it to the new house,” she explained as she typed.

Lisbeth didn't want them to have to leave their possessions behind so she made a plan so that they could take everything they owned. Still, she sensed that he had cold feet, and she wanted to let him off the hook easily if that's what he needed.

Lisbeth set down her computer on the table and ambled toward him. Daryl looked up at her, and she could see that he was scared, but she didn't know what was scaring him most. She knelt down at his feet and took his hands in hers and knew then what she had to do.

“You and Merle owe me nothing. I'll understand if you can't come with me. I guess I just didn't want to let either of you go, I still don't, but I will if I have to."

“It's not that-”

“It was selfish to want you both, and I'm selfish to uproot your life this way-”

“Lisbeth, that's not the problem!” he insisted.

“Then what is it?”

“I just wanted to know if I could bring my bike...and also I'm afraid of flying.”

“That's it?” she asked, looking up helplessly into his eyes.

Lisbeth didn't think she could like Daryl more, but his little show of vulnerability was getting to her on an even deeper level.

“Yeah, I've never been on a plane before, and it freaks me out...I do wanna go with you.”

“Would you rather travel by car? It's a very long way by car.”

“No, I'll be OK. I'm just being a chicken shit,” he smiled.

Daryl leaned down to kiss her, and it dawned on him then that this was the best decision he'd ever made. He and Merle had just stayed in the same place for years and didn't step out of their bubble to see what was out there beyond Toccoa. They had missed out on life over the years. Maybe running away to some place in northern Alberta was just what they needed, maybe Lisbeth was just what they needed.

“I just wanna be with you and Merle, and I don't really care where we are,” he said as he pulled her up onto his lap.

“I think you'll like it there,” she smiled as her arms came around his neck and her knees sank down on either side of his thighs.

“So you picked a place already?” he grinned.

“Everything is arranged, we just need to go. I just want you to be happy.”

“I will be. I could be happy in a little apartment or whatever you found.”

Lisbeth thought about the million dollar cabin they'd be calling home and grinned to herself; she couldn't wait to see his face when he saw it.

Daryl's hands rested on her hips and soon they were kissing and touching like teenagers. Lisbeth had never smiled so much in all her life, even as a small child. Merle and Daryl were changing her so much in only a short time, peace was new but wonderful.

/

Merle was happy to not have to explain too much to Abe about their absence from work. A simple 'we got some family shit going on' was all it took to relieve them of their work duties for the next week or so and by then they'd be gone.

Merle had a couple of beer with Abe and then headed home to see what progress had been made with leaving Toccoa.

When he pulled up outside and headed to the door, he could just sense that something was up and as he opened the door he could see them kissing. Merle entered and said he was sorry quickly as he proceeded through to the kitchen to give them privacy. He still didn't know what the protocol was, but he wasn't about to intrude.

“Merle.”

It was Daryl's voice, and he wasn't sure what to say as he stood at the door to the basement in the process of making his escape.

“I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to walk in on you like that; I'll go downstairs while you...”

“Come here,” Daryl added and he walked back to the living room where they were standing up and headed to Daryl's room.

“Come with us,” Lisbeth motioned, and he felt good to be asked to come along.

Part of him wondered if they'd only be together with the three of them when they were drinking or if it was really the three of them in the relationship together.

Lisbeth kissed him as soon as he entered the room and pulled him down to the bed and soon it was all three of them together in one heap.

Merle and Lisbeth lay on their sides facing each other and Daryl lay behind her, steadily stripping her bare and biting at her throat.

Merle's eyes caught Daryl's over her shoulder, and it was like telepathy as they moved closer to each other.

/

Daryl grabbed him rough behind his head, and his lips crashed against Merle's with Lisbeth still between them. Daryl wanted more, and he wasn't tipsy or anything, he wanted to explore the feelings he was having for Merle, and since Lisbeth liked it, she could catch an eyeful in the process.

Daryl could feel that Merle liked it, he knew him better than anyone, so when Merle climbed over Lisbeth to get closer, he wasn't surprised.

“This...this is so hot,” Lisbeth muttered, and Daryl could feel Merle lay his weight down on him.

Merle became a little aggressive and Daryl felt sexually and physically overpowered for the first time in his life. Hands, grabbing and pulling at his clothing and a strong mouth taking him over as it moved from his mouth to his neck.

Lisbeth moved closer and was caught up in the mix, but for the next few minutes, it was all Merle and Daryl. Daryl could feel himself growing so hard it hurt and then the unthinkable happened, and Merle touched him through his jeans. He hissed and growled at the confusing sensation of arousal and wrongness.

Lisbeth kissed him then, and he was bombarded by the soft sweet female tongue and dominant male hand stroking him out of his comfort zone.

He could feel hardness against his leg and on instinct, he reached down and groped Merle back, but he found himself forcing his jeans open and down his legs as well.

In a tangle of bodies, Daryl found himself pulling Lisbeth's breasts to his mouth and all the while Merle was touching him. Merle watched in awe as Daryl took her nipple into his mouth and then trailed his hand down to her ass, pulling her right up close to his body.

The three of them took turns exploring each other, and it felt completely organic and good. Merle's hands roamed freely over her body and Daryl's, and when Daryl began having sex with her, it was Merle that she was kissing.

This kind of sex was going to make Merle an old man before his time, it was frenzied and had him bound.

/

Daryl rolled over after fucking her senseless and tossed the condom into the trash can before passing out within minutes.

“He just can't stay awake after he cums,” Lisbeth joked.

“That's Daryl for ya,” Merle chuckled.

“You ready?” she winked.

“How do you manage to keep this up with both of us?” he queried. “Don't you ever get tired?”

“Not really, are you too tired?”

“Fuck no, come here, honey,” he grinned, crawling over her and getting the bed rocking as Daryl snored.

Merle held her head in the crook of his arm and looked her right in the eye as he gave it to her slow and gentle.

“This is so evil,” she purred.

“Like it kinda slow?” he quipped.

“Never had it slow like this until you...I think it's my new favorite.”

“Makin' love to you is my new favorite in general, honey,” he groaned as he brought it home.

Forehead to forehead, they connected to each other on a level that was much more than physical, he loved her on every level.

/

Merle was snoring next to Daryl when her phone went off and startled her.

Lisbeth had to lean over both men to reach her phone and then lay back to look at the notification. It was her first email in weeks; she had closed down all her email accounts except for her work email she only ever used professionally.

To her knowledge, the only person who had that address was her old employer, Dragan Armansky, so it troubled her as she opened the message.

**Lisbeth,**

**I got this email address from Armansky; I had no other way to reach you. I don't know where you went, or if you'll even receive this. I have a feeling you don't want to be found, so you should be aware that people are looking for you. You are still technically a ward of the state, so your name has been added to a missing person's page online.**

**I wasn't expecting you to just disappear like this and I hope you're OK. I have this weird feeling like I made you mad or offended you somehow; if I did, I'm sorry. I am very grateful for all of your help with the Vanger case, and I could never thank you enough for saving my life. You're an extraordinary person, and I think about you often. I don't really know what else to say, but I'll leave the link below so you can see the missing persons page yourself.**

**Mikael.**

 

 


	15. We were one, we were free...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's taking a while for them to leave but Daryl and Lisbeth won't be coming back to Toccoa:/ Blake is going to muddy the waters of course. Ugh! I hate him too.  
> The song is 'She's the One' by World Party (there's also a great cover by Robbie Williams)

_ I was her she was me _

_ We were one; we were free _

_ And if there's somebody calling me on _

_ She's the one _

_ If there's somebody calling me on _

_ She's the one _

_ We were young; we were wrong _

_ We were fine all along _

_ If there's somebody calling me on _

_ She's the one _

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ ** Chapter 15 – We were one, we were free... ** _

  
  


Lisbeth hit the link in the email and saw her own face staring back at her from a government website. Her first thought was that someone could easily come across it and discover that she had a past. Sweden didn't appear to be protecting her anonymity anymore now that she was missing, they even mentioned in the missing persons notice that she had a history of violence. So much for her records being sealed.

Lisbeth lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling and felt the sadness weigh on her heart. Mikael didn't even understand why she left, he had no idea that she had seen him with Erika but that was not her concern. She looked over at Daryl and Merle in only the light created by her phone and smiled at them both lying comatose and perfect next to her. She loved them already...her men.

** Mikael, **

** Thank you for the information. I am safe and very happy where I am. I wish you and Erika the best. **

** L. **

Lisbeth smiled to herself and knew that she had officially let go of Mikael in her heart forever. She was happy in love for the first time ever, and she no longer wondered what could have been with him.

She stretched herself across her men to set her phone on the night table and lay her head down to sleep.

Peaceful visions of a forest filled her dreams that night. She was walking with Merle and Daryl through the trees, and the sun was shining warmth onto her skin. She could smell pine trees and wildflowers, and her men looked so at home in the woods. Lisbeth's dreams were not typically good, but this dream was perfect, and she wanted it to become a reality.

/

Daryl went for a ride early that morning when he woke up; he wanted to ride the back roads once more if he was about to never see them again. Merle and Lisbeth were tangled around each other still, and he smiled as he grabbed his keys to go. 

He and Merle had spent their childhood looking for somewhere else to be except home and the woods had been that place for them time and time again. They had spent nights out there alone in the cold when things got especially bad, and Merle was always the one to hand over his coat. As much as he hated Toccoa, some of his best memories were wrapped up in the bad. Daryl headed to the place where they built most of their forts and did all of their camping, and he could still see them there in his mind, he could still feel how free he felt there with Merle.

** / **

** Get the fire going, Daryl. Gonna cook up your first kill here, little man! **

  
** I can't believe I did it! **

  
** That little fucker didn't even see it coming! Squirrel ain't easy to hit with a sling shot either...what's wrong? **

  
** Isn't it kinda wrong to kill though? **

  
** Hell no, it's only a squirrel. You didn't do nothing wrong, Daryl. **

  
** You sure? **

  
** Of course, come sit down and don't worry yourself about it. **

  
** I'm a pussy, huh? **

  
** No, you ain't. You're a nice kid...I didn't like this at first either. **

  
** Really? **

  
** Sure. I used to throw all the fish back when I was your age. **

  
** I love it out here. **

  
** Me too, little brother, me too. **

** / **

Daryl headed back to town after his walk down memory lane and stopped at the store for a cold drink.

“Hey.”

He just knew it was her before he even turned around and he wasn't sure if he should even speak to her.

“Hey, Nadine.”

“I heard about Caden...I'm sorry about that.”

“It ain't your fault, but I ain't supposed to talk to you.”

“I didn't tell him anything that happened; they just assumed everything from what people saw at the bar that night.”

“I know you didn't; it's OK.”

Daryl looked around to see if anyone was watching them talk to each other, he didn't need any more drama.

“I'm leaving this place anyway,” she shrugged. “I'll be in Atlanta by the end of the week.”

Daryl was about to tell her he was leaving too but he didn't want anyone knowing about their plans. Why leave any doors open?

“That's good; this place is stupid.”

“I know. I'm so sick of the judgment and everyone knowing my business. Being interrogated by that wackjob Blake and Caden is not my idea of fun...I can't believe I was upset over losing that idiot.”

Daryl didn't know what to say, so he just agreed that she was better off without him. She wrote down her number on a piece of paper and placed it in his hand, much to his surprise.

“If you ever wanted to talk, or anything...no pressure. I know it was just sex, but it was a good night for me.”

“Me too...I'll call you,” he said, but he didn't really know if it was wise to risk it.

“Say goodbye to Merle and Lisbeth for me,” she nodded and leaned in for a quick hug before walking away.

“I will.”

/

“Where did Daryl go?” Lisbeth asked as they sipped their morning coffee.

“He takes off randomly to ride; it's just the way he is,” Merle explained.

“I see, he's a little complicated sometimes.”

“Daryl doesn't blurt out every fool thing in his head like me, but you'll figure him out pretty quick.”

Lisbeth got an email notification that the passports were ready to be picked up in Atlanta and grinned to herself.

“Just need the plane tickets, and it's all done...you still sure?” she asked, looking up from her computer to where Merle was laying on the couch.

“Stop asking if I'm sure, woman!” he laughed.

“Do you want to come to Atlanta with me to get the passports and tickets or do you want to stay here and load the storage unit when it comes?”

“I'll load up, Daryl can come with you, I avoid the city like the plague,” he chuckled.

/

Daryl got back home, and his head was much more clear. Nothing made him feel more alive than a good ride where he could get all the muddiness out of his head. Lisbeth asked if he wanted to go with her to Atlanta and he figured a little trip was just what the doctor ordered. It was less than a two-hour drive so it would make for a nice day.

“The storage unit will be coming in an hour or so, you sure you got it all?” she asked.

“I got it,” Merle winked and showed off his bicep for her.

“Very nice,” she grinned. “We'll be back by tonight.”

Merle reminded Daryl that they needed to take his truck so he could load up the bike.

“Be careful with my baby,” he warned with a chuckle.

“She won't feel a thing,” Merle sighed with a roll of his eyes. Daryl loved his bike more than some men loved their wives. “Drive safe, you two.”

Daryl patted Merle on the shoulder and walked over to the truck to get in as Lisbeth came over to say goodbye.

“See you tonight, my man.”

“I like that.”

“What?”

“I like when you call me your man,” he smiled, pulling her closer to give her a kiss.

For some reason, he didn't want to let her go even if it was just a simple drive into the city, so he kissed her like she was leaving for much longer.

Lisbeth melted into the kiss and pulled him closer by the belt loops of his jeans. Merle threaded his fingers into her short hair, and they let the kiss take them over for just a few more minutes. Lisbeth was left wanting much more but had Daryl waiting for her in the truck.

“Soon we'll all be together far away from here,” she smiled as she touched his cheek.

“Can't wait.”

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” she grinned.

“You know you can, honey.”

“See you in a few hours, my man.”

“Can't wait.”

 

 


	16. Stay Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sheriff Blake comes back to stir the pot some more, Lisbeth makes a plan to get them all to Alberta together, and poor Daryl has an episode:(   
> Thanks for reading:) xoxo  
> Teagan   
> p.s. I'm just taking a little time with this because I love writing them all together, I really enjoy writing the relationship between all three of them:)

_Wise men say, only fools rush in_

_but I can't help falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay, would it be a sin?_

_if I can't help falling in love with you..._

_Take my hand, take my whole life too_

_cause I can't help falling in love with you_

 

* * *

  
  


_ **Chapter 16 – Stay Safe** _

  
  


Merle was cracking a beer when a huge truck arrived with a storage unit on the back.

“I'll be back in 24 hours to pick it up and take it all the way up north of the border,” the guy informed him as he lowered it onto the driveway with a crane hitch.

“Thanks.”

“Sure is costing a bomb to get it all up there,” the man commented.

Merle just shrugged, cause Lisbeth hadn't told him any of the details.

“Have a good one, pal.”

“Yep, see ya.”

Merle pulled off his shirt and turned on the stereo in the house to get working. He went through a few more beer as he worked and the heat swiftly left his body glistening in sweat. Merle started to sing out loud as he worked out of boredom and carried some of Daryl's things out to the storage unit.

  
  


**Like a river flows**

**Surely to the sea**

**Darling, so it goes**

**Some things are meant to be**

**Take my hand,**

**Take my whole life, too**

**For I can't help falling in love with you**

**For I can't help falling in love with you**

  
  


Merle felt like a silly teenager to miss Lisbeth after only a few hours but he was so used to her quiet presence already, it was comforting.

He and Daryl didn't own very much, so he was finishing up just after lunch and was finally getting to Daryl's bike when he saw a shadow fall over the driveway.

“What do you want now?” Merle groaned as Sheriff Blake exited his cruiser.

“You don't look happy to see me, Merle.”

“Do you want my honest answer?” he huffed.

“Not really. I'm actually here to see Lisbeth.”

“She ain't here.”

“Where is she?”

“Why do you wanna know anyway?” Merle asked in a raised voice that he hadn't really intended to use.

“I know a few more things about your little visitor and I wanted to ask her some questions.”

“Why don't you leave her alone? She hasn't done anything wrong,” Merle growled.

“That's not entirely true, though. You probably think I'm some dumbass small town cop, but I've been looking into her past, and that little firecracker has a history of violence, doesn't she?”

“She's gone, so let it go,” Merle lied.

“Where's your brother?”

“I'm not his mother. How do I know?”

Merle was sick and tired of playing nice; he'd broken no laws, so he wasn't going to just take his bullshit with a smile anymore.

“Well, I just figured with you two still living together...”

Phillip's voice trailed off, and a knowing grin crossed his face.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Why don't you tell me? Everyone in town thinks it's a little strange for two grown men to live together at your age.”

“I could give a fuck what the morons here think.”

“Merle, I'm going to level with you here...she's a missing person.”

“No, she isn't.”

“The Swedish authorities are looking for her. She's a mentally defective ward of the state.”

“I told you, she's gone, so it ain't my problem now anyway.”

“If you see her, you let me know, OK? I just wanna see that she isn't a danger to herself or anyone else. Maybe she'd be better off back in her own country.”

“Are we done here?” Merle growled.

“Sure...what's this all about anyway? You packing up to get the hell out of Dodge or something?”

“Just putting some shit in storage. You sure are a nosy fucker aren't you?”

Sheriff Blake just laughed at that and winked back at Merle before turning to leave.

/

Daryl and Lisbeth got to Atlanta and had already collected the passports and the plane tickets by 3 pm.

“I don't really know much about Canada,” he noted, looking down at the tickets in his hand.

“The place we're going to has woods, mountains and a huge lake full of fish...I wanted to find a place where you and Merle could be at home.”

“You picked this place for us?” he asked.

“I want you both to be happy.”

“We will be, we just wanna be with you.”

They were sat in a restaurant, grabbing a quick bite before heading back to Toccoa when his cell phone rang.

“It's just Merle,” he told her. “Yeah?”

“Daryl, you can't come back here.”

“What? Why not?”

“That fuckin' creep Blake, he's been looking into Lisbeth's past, and he knows all about her. It turns out the authorities are looking for her back in Sweden.”

“Why?”

“Just cause of her past, they seem to think she's a dangerous person or something.”

“That's ridiculous!”

“What's wrong?” Lisbeth asked, only hearing one side of the conversation but enough to know there was an issue.

“Blake,” Daryl told her, and that was pretty much all she needed to hear.

“You have to stay there with her till we can get to Canada...if she comes back here, Blake is gonna call the Swedish authorities or something.”

“Damn it!”

“Did you get the passports and tickets?” Merle asked.

“Yeah. What the hell are we gonna do now?”

Lisbeth motioned for him to give her the phone so he did, he didn't have any answers anyway.

“Merle.”

“Hey, honey.”

Merle quickly explained the issue to her, and she didn't miss a beat with her solution.

“Can you get a bus to Atlanta today?"

"I don't think so; I think the last one leaves at noon."

"OK, just stay there and lay low, wait for the man to come back to collect the storage unit in the morning, then catch the first bus to Atlanta tomorrow. We can all leave together on the 4 pm flight."

“Sounds like a plan, then Daryl can squeeze both our hands on the plane," he laughed.

"Don't be mean," she giggled.

She couldn't believe that giggling was something that came naturally to her lately.

"I'll be nice, I promise."

“This will all be over soon," she assured him.

"I can't wait, stay safe," he sighed.

“I will. I'll hand you over to Daryl. Love you.”

“Love you, honey.”

Lisbeth handed the phone to Daryl, and for a split second, he wondered why she'd never said that to him, but he pushed the thought away for the time being.

“You got it all worked out?” he asked Merle.

“Sure thing. I'll see you both in Atlanta tomorrow; it's gonna be fine.”

“I'm kinda pissin' myself. Using a fake name to leave the country and flying on a plane in the same day is not my idea of a good time, my nerves can't take this shit.”

“Lisbeth knows what she's doing; we'll just let her lead.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow, brother."

"Yep, see ya."

/

Daryl and Lisbeth found a motel room for the night and settled on the bed together with nothing much to say. Things were not going as planned and the evening was full of tension. Daryl tried to settle his nerves with a bottle of whiskey and hissed as he took a long swig. He couldn't help feeling a little strange about Merle and Lisbeth saying they loved each other. _Did that make him the third wheel?_

“What's wrong?” Lisbeth asked, looking up from her computer.

“Nothing.”

“Don't lie.”

Daryl was upset but didn't want to admit it, so he grumbled a little and got up to go to the bathroom. For a cheap motel, the bathtub was surprisingly clean and shiny, so he ran a tub and planned to get drunk in it. Daryl shed his clothes and realized that most of his relationships ended when there was even the hint of a conflict. He didn't know how to 'talk about his feelings' with women, so he generally didn't. He sank down into the steaming water and tried to let go of the feeling that he had misread the situation. He held the bottle in his hands, taking the occasional sip and sulking for the next half hour. He heard a soft knock at the door as the water began to cool off and he felt moody, so he simply offered a, “Yeah?”

“I'm coming in.”

He pulled the curtain for some strange reason and lay back in the tub looking up at the popcorn ceiling. Daryl had spent all his life running from women who said 'I love you' and now he was pissed that Lisbeth loved Merle and not him, for the first time he felt jealous in the relationship and he hated the feeling.

“You're angry with me,” she said, simply from the other side of the curtain.

She was sitting on the toilet lid, and he could see her shadow through the thin white plastic shield between them.

“No...I just got a headache.”

“Tell me what I did wrong,” she said in a softer voice.

“You didn't do anything wrong...I just...it's my own problem, don't worry about it,” he huffed.

“Of course I'm going to worry about it.”

“Pfft!”

Daryl knew he was acting childish, but he couldn't seem to stop, he was tipsy and jealous and blue.

“Hey,” she said, pulling back the curtain. “Tell me what's wrong!”

“What do you care? Why don't you go call Merle?” he shot back and pulled the curtain closed in her face.

“Daryl...”

He'd have to explain himself, that was the part of the argument he hated the most. Eventually, he'd have to tell her why he was being such a pissbaby.

“Please don't be like this...I'm sorry,” she said, and there was something in her voice he'd never heard, something that tore him in two. She was deeply hurt, and her words trembled as they left her lips.

Daryl sat up and took a slow breath as he pulled the curtain back to really look at her.

“You didn't do anything wrong, Lis. I'm just being a jealous asshole...I'm sorry.”

“I thought you were OK with everything.”

“I am, it's just when you were talking to Merle before, I realized that you two have something more between you. You feel something for him that you don't feel for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you love him. That ain't something I ever thought I wanted to hear, but when you said it to him, I realized that I wanted it too.”

“Daryl-”

“I'm not trying to get you to say it now, and it's OK that you don't feel that way for me...I gotta deal with that myself-”

“I do love you, Daryl.”

He looked down at the bottle in h is hands as if he didn't believe her.

“You're just saying that cause I'm acting like a child about it, aren't you?”

Lisbeth got on her knees next to the tub and took his face in her hands.

“I just didn't know if you were ready to hear it.”

“Why?”

“Cause I have a harder time reading you...I didn't want to chase you away, but I do love you, Daryl.”

“For real?”

“Yes. I wouldn't lie to you. Merle mentioned once that you're not one for serious relationships and...I didn't want to push you.”

"I know that you and Merle have something really special, and I know you probably love him a little more than me-"

"Daryl-"

"It's OK...I just wanted you to love me too."

"I do," she insisted.

Lisbeth pulled him closer and lay a soft kiss on his lips, then snuggled her face into his neck. Daryl smiled and pulled her in tight.

“Love you too.”

Lisbeth stripped her clothing off slowly and sank down in the water between his thighs, resting her back against his chest.

Daryl took her hands in his and kissed her neck softly.

“I didn't mean to be a goof about that.”

“It's alright...I should have said it to you as soon as I felt it.”

“When did you feel it?”

“When you kissed me on the bike, I started to feel it then.”

“Me too, I didn't recognize what I was feeling at the time, but I know what it was now.”

 


	17. You Made Me Do This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blake meets his match;)  
> Thanks for reading:)  
> The song is 'Bend' by Ria Mae

_All night, straight ahead at the headlights_

_Scream at me, baby_

_Yelling like I ruined your life_

_All night with my back against the wall_

_Push me, push me, I'll never fall, oh_

 

_Baby, this mistrust is contagious_

_I'm going crazy_

_Looking for something to save us_

 

_You can try and bend my heart, but it won't break_

_You can change my clothes; you can change my name_

_Break, break, break out of these chains_

_I can bend, bend, bend so far but I won't break_

 

* * *

 

 

_ **Chapter 17 – You Made Me Do This** _

 

“Good morning, my man.”

Merle loved the sound of her voice first thing in the morning, and he couldn't wait to be with her again.

“Morning, honey. Sleep OK?”

“Yeah, Daryl is still conked out.”

“So where do I meet you in Atlanta today?”

“We're staying at a place called Moonlight Suites downtown, but by the time you get here, we'll probably be at the airport.”

“Jesus! That's a hole in the ground,” he laughed.

“It's pretty rough, but we'll be out of here today,” she smiled.

“Can't wait.”

“Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?”

“Yeah, just a second...go ahead.”

“The flight number is United 5524, and the gate number is 23.”

“Got it.”

“So your bus leaves at noon you said?”

“Something like that, I'm going to catch the first one I can after the guy shows up with the truck.”

“Perfect. I can't wait to see you.”

“Me too, honey. I gotta admit I miss you like crazy already, you and Daryl.”

“It's just a few hours now.”

/

Daryl woke up to a surprising sight as the woman he fell for began to transform into a stranger. She was freshly showered, covering up her tattoos and pulling on a brown wig. He opened up her passport and smiled at the picture of her as another person.

“Why didn't you just change your name?”

“Too risky. The odds are slim that airport security will know my face from Sweden, but with the internet you never know. Looking straight laced is just an easier way to travel anyway.”

“Please tell me you're going to dress like the Lisbeth I fell for when we get to Canada.”

“Just try and stop me,” she sighed. “I'm sick and tired of looking like a Gap ad.”

Daryl laughed and lay back on the bed as she put on pretty makeup and removed all of her piercings, including the ones that would set off the security alarms.

/

Merle heard a bang at the door and met the truck driver in his boxers.

“This everything?” the man asked.

“That's it. Do you have the address and everything?” Merle asked.

“Yep, this chick with an accent called and wired me the money and told me where to take it. This is a hell of a payday for me, so I told her no problem.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

Merle got dressed and walked slowly around the house he and Daryl had called home for years. He felt sad to leave it behind, but he knew better things lay ahead for them. Lisbeth said the house could be sold from Canada if they wanted to make the money back and he was in no hurry for that, it could wait.

By 10 am, Merle was at the bus station and standing at the ticket kiosk. An elderly woman he vaguely knew as 'Stella' was behind the counter when he started looking over the schedule. He placed his wallet and the piece of paper from earlier that morning on the counter without realizing that it was a bad idea.

“Where you heading?” she asked.

“Atlanta. When's the next bus?”

“I mean on the plane,” she laughed.

“Huh?”

Stella pointed to the flight number written on the paper and smiled at him in her nosy, small town way.

“It's nothing, I ain't flying anywhere,” he shot back. “When's the bus to Atlanta?”

“Sorry for living,” she huffed. “It's leaving at 10:45.”

“That'll do.”

“You'll be arriving at 1:3o, downtown Atlanta.”

“Why so late? It's only a 2-hour drive.”

“They go through Athens on the way.”

Merle sighed and shook his head as he handed over the money for the ticket. He'd still be there in time for the flight but long bus rides were not his idea of a good time. He hoped against hope that the old bat wouldn't mention the flight number to anyone but it wasn't very likely to stay a secret for long.

Merle boarded the bus when it pulled up and smiled to himself as Toccoa faded into the horizon. All of the misery would soon be behind him and he'd never have to see the places that reminded him of pain again. Their mother was mentally gone to the world and unfortunately didn't recognize them when they visited anyway. Merle felt bad to leave her but she was well cared for and he couldn't turn down a chance to be happy.

/

“Well, hello there, darlin'!”

“Sheriff Blake, you startled me!”

“So sorry about that. Just making my rounds this morning and I could swear I just saw the older Dixon through the window of a Greyhound just now.”

“That you did. He was in a hell of a mood this morning, maybe a trip to the city will get the bee out of his bonnet.”

“What's wrong with the old boy?”

“I just asked him where he was flying to and he bit my head off saying he wasn't flying anywhere.”

“Why did you think he was?”

“He had a flight number written on a piece of paper. I was only trying to make conversation.”

“Do you remember the number?”

“Oh no, my memory isn't what it once was, but it had today's date written next to it.”

“Interesting. Well, you have a good day there, sweetheart!”

“You too, Sheriff.”

 

Back in his car, Sheriff Blake called the station to inform them of a change in his plans for the day.

“Milton, let everyone know I'm going to be out on business for the day.”

“The whole day, Sir?”

“Yes. I just might be able to locate that woman I was looking into.”

“Where?”

“Atlanta, she'll be with those Dixons, and if I'm not mistaken, they're looking to leave the country.”

“Why not just call the Atlanta PD and have them pick her up?”

“I spoke with the Swedish authorities myself, and there's a reward, Milton. If those pricks in Atlanta bring her in and hand her over they ain't gonna tell them it was really me who found her are they? They'll take all the damn credit.”

“If you think that's best, Sir. I'll let everyone know.”

“I'm gonna show them all that a small town Sheriff is just as capable as those big city cops.”

“You show 'em, Sir.”

“I'll be there a hell of a lot faster than Merle too, that Greyhound will take ages to get to the big A.”

/

Checked in and relaxing in the departure lounge, Lisbeth traced her fingertips up and down Daryl's arm. Merle had texted them that by the time he got off the bus and caught a cab to the airport, it would be around 2 pm. It was currently 1 pm, and Lisbeth was starting to believe that all their worries were behind them, until she spotted Blake.

“Baby, I'm going to go for a short walk and use the restroom, OK?”

“Yeah? You OK?” Daryl asked.

“I'm fine, you just sit right here and don't move.”

“OK...”

“I might be a few minutes, but I'll be back. Just wait here for Merle, I told him we'd be right in this spot.”

“You're acting funny.”

“I know, but you trust me, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then just do as I say...I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Lisbeth got up and moved like a snake, slithering through crowds of people on her way to a little shop in the airport.

After a quick purchase, she darted back out to the area where she had seen Blake peering around in search of her no doubt.

She walked behind him a few feet, and before he got close enough to zero in on Daryl, she touched his shoulder.

“Looking for me?”

Sheriff Blake turned around and didn't recognize her at first, but the accent cleared his recollection.

“I am, as a matter of fact,” he answered.

“I need to speak with you actually...I need a man of the law for this conversation.”

“Oh yeah?”

“It's not something I can discuss with any old civilian,” she answered.

“Well, talk then.”

“Not here, this is a matter of potentially huge national importance...we need to find somewhere private.”

“Like where?”

“There's a parkade on the lower level; we can find somewhere more private there.”

“You sure do look different,” he said, and Lisbeth saw just what she needed to see in his stare; lust.

“I'm a chameleon when I need to be,” she answered, her voice dripping with suggestion.

She turned and walked ahead of him, leading him to a service elevator that led down to the underground parking area.

Once on the elevator, he tried to question her further, but she wasn't giving anything up. Lisbeth clutched her purse containing the items she had just purchased at the airport shop and grinned up at him.

“I learned some interesting things about you, Lisbeth.”

“Is that so. It may be a bit of an exaggeration.”

“There's more to you than meets the eye...that's for sure.”

“Well, that part is true, but everything else may be a matter of wild speculation,” she purred.

“They say you're a dangerous woman.”

“Not in a million years, Sheriff. I'm a lover, not a fighter.”

“Is that a fact?”

The elevator door opened and she stepped out into the cool, dark concrete of the parking area.

“That's a fact,” she answered.

“So where are we going for this private chat?” he asked in an anxious tone.

“Here will do.”

Lisbeth pulled a pin from her purse and picked the lock to a custodian's closet.

“Here?”

“Right here,” she winked, and he followed her in.

Lisbeth wasted no time pulling the purse from her shoulder and setting it down on a desk and then urging Sheriff Blake closer to her.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, and he stumbled willingly into her web.

Her mouth fought his for dominance, and she noticed that his fool eyes closed the second their lips met. She trailed her hand down his back and then down to his ass, she had to make him trust the fact that she was moving.

Phillip Blake thought he was capturing her and she loved that, he had no idea what was about to hit him. She felt alive with the sweetness of revenge on her tongue. Her mind drifted back to the shock of a lifetime she'd given to Bjurman and she smiled as her mouth drifted to Blake's neck. She reached her hand into her purse and pulled out the taser in a steady movement that he didn't even notice.

/

Lisbeth backed up like a bolt of lightning and pressed the device to his neck. A second later he was on the ground twitching. He was breathing just fine and his heart was beating normally when she assessed him, so she got to work. Lisbeth dropped to her knees and pulled the packing tape from her purse, it was the best thing she could find at the airport store and it would do the job.

She secured his hands and feet and taped up his mouth, using the entire roll of tape in the process. Nobody was ruining her life; nobody was going to stop her from being with Merle and Daryl. Lisbeth was sick and tired of the world trying to get in her way; this was the way it needed to be.

To make things extra tricky, she secured his taped up hands to a pipe under the sink and left the room locked behind her. She had her men to get back to.

“You made me do this,” she said softly as she looked down at Blake's comatose body on the ground.

On the way up to the main level in the elevator, she counted her lucky stars that she hadn't thrown the taser away at the hotel like she originally planned. Taking a weapon on a plane was an obvious no-no but something had told her to toss it at the airport instead. She stepped quickly into a lady's room and did just that before meeting her men in the very spot she had left Daryl waiting.

"Wow! You look so different," Merle beamed as he pulled her into his arms.

"I missed you," she sighed, taking in the safe, familiar sensation of his embrace.

"Where were you?" Daryl asked. "It's been like twenty minutes."

"Don't worry about it, babe. OK?"

"If you say so," he smiled. "Come sit down here and remind me again how flying isn't really scary and how we ain't gonna die on the way to beaver land."

 


	18. Reunions and Maple Syrup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our threesome finally leaves the country and get reacquainted in Canada with some maple syrup cause...why not? ;)  
> The song is 'I'm into you' ny Chet Faker.

 

 _I got a feeling we are gonna win_  
_Our bodies make it perfect_  
_And your eyes can make me swim_  
  
_Then again everything seems new_  
_I can barely hold my tongue_  
_To say the least, I'm into you_  
  
_And your eyes_  
_Are saying more than we can talk and warmer than our bedroom sport_  
_And your thighs_  
_Are kisses from the outside, girl that's all I need_  
  
_I'll take you down the other road_  
_To breathe in something more_

  


* * *

 

 

_ **Chapter 18 – Reunions and Maple Syrup** _

Boarding the plane was a surreal experience for Daryl, and the pat down left him shaken. He was sure they'd see right through their false names and Lisbeth's disguise and toss them all in jail, but here they were.

Daryl chose the spot between Merle and Lisbeth so that he wouldn't have to piss himself next to a stranger. The sounds around him were alien, and his eyes darted to the exits as he felt the plane begin to fire up and then taxi along the tarmac to the runway.

“Fuuuuck,” he whispered.

“You'll be OK once we take off, that's the worst part,” Lisbeth assured him.

“What about when we crash into the fucking ocean,” he winced under his breath.

“We aren't even flying over an ocean,” she grinned.

“No soft landing then, hey?”

The take off was smooth by anyone else's standard, but for Daryl, it felt like the plane was going to explode and his hands dug into the arm rests tightly. When the seat belt sign was lifted, Lisbeth got up to use the bathroom and left Daryl almost panting next to Merle.

“Just take 'er easy,” Merle said softly and began to rub his back a little. “It's safe...nothing bad is gonna happen. You trust me, right?”

“Of course...it's just...we're in the fucking air in a metal coffin.”

“Hey, you know I ain't gonna let nothing happen to you.”

“Yeah,” Daryl sighed as reality began to seep through. Merle had always protected him.

Merle rubbed his back a little longer as the color began to fill his cheeks again.

“I can grab him a cool cloth,” a stewardess offered, leaning over Merle's shoulder and he nodded up to her.

“That might help, thanks.”

“It's common for first-time flyers to be uncomfortable, so if your partner needs anything don't hesitate to ask,” she smiled and then walked away to retrieve the cloth.

“Did you hear that?” Merle chuckled. “She thinks you're my boyfriend.”

Daryl finally found some humor in the moment and decided to play with it.

“Course she does, babe, we make a cute couple,” he winked.

“OK, cut that out!” Merle protested with a chuckle.

The stewardess returned with the cool damp cloth as Lisbeth sat down next to Daryl again and Merle ordered a stiff whiskey for each of them.

After a couple drinks, Daryl believed he'd survive the flight, and the 6-hour journey unfolded before him. Eventually, he relaxed enough to get bored and fell asleep between Merle and Lisbeth.

“He's like a baby the way he crashes so easy,” she grinned.

“He's always been like that.”

“I'm excited,” Lisbeth smiled and looked deep into Merle's eyes. “I'm finally free, and I get to have you both with me.”

Merle loved everything about her, and he felt so lucky, it felt like everything in his life was leading him to her.

“You, approaching me in that bar was the best thing I could have hoped for.”

/

Daryl had another mild panic attack as they landed and then walked wobbly legged off the plane and onto Canadian soil leaning most of his weight on Merle. The airport in Banff was rustic, and as they entered the new country, Daryl and Merle were blown away by the mountains they could clearly see through the windows.

“I think he needs a coffee or something,” Merle chuckled.

“I just need to lay down,” Daryl corrected.

“Let's find a hotel and get some rest,” Lisbeth suggested. “What do you think of the mountains?”

Daryl walked to a big window with a spectacular view and smiled widely.

“It's beautiful, Lisbeth...thank you.”

“Just wait till you see where we'll be living,” she added. “We can go there tomorrow.”

Merle collected the one bag they'd brought with them, everything was on the storage unit that was still on its way, and they walked out of the airport into the evening air.

A short cab ride took them into downtown Banff, and it was filled with little gift shops, quaint B&Bs and the streets were lined with gaslight lamps.

“This place looks like a fairy tale or something,” Daryl mused as he looked around himself.

“It's pretty,” Lisbeth sighed. “It's just like I pictured.”

Merle walked toward a place that looked like a hunting lodge with a sign on the front advertising vacancy for the night.

“I need a shower and some food,” Merle groaned as they followed him inside.

“Hello there!” a man smiled from the front counter.

The man who ran the bed and breakfast looked so 'Canadian' that Merle almost laughed. He was in flannel and denim and had a Molson Canadian cap on his head.

“We need a room for the night,” Merle began.

“Just the one?” the man queried.

“Just one will do.”

“I have just the thing; it's the honeymoon suite if you don't mind that.”

“Not at all,” Daryl grinned.

Lisbeth paid cash, and they were led up three flights of old wooden stairs to a massive loft with reclaimed barn wood walls and exposed rafters.

“Wow!” Daryl beamed as he looked around.

He spotted a queen size bed with a homemade quilt and spread himself all over it as their host gave them all the rundown.

“Breakfast is at 9 am, and my Misses will bring it up, there's a dining table in the other room just there. The hot tub was just cleaned, and there's a fridge with some local treats inside...anything else you need for the night?”

“This is just fine,” Merle smiled. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem. My name's Dale; if you need anything just dial 9 on the phone and I'll be right up.”

“Bless you,” Daryl groaned with his face buried in pillows.

“Goodnight then, folks.”

With the owner gone and the door locked behind him, Lisbeth squealed in glee at the heaven of having them all alone.

“We did it!” she exclaimed.

“We sure did,” Merle agreed. “Free at last!”

Lisbeth took in the rustic charm of the place: the antlers on the wall, the homemade quilts, and the stone fireplace. She went immediately to the fridge to check out its contents and grinned at a small glass jar of maple syrup.

“I never tried this.”

“Me neither. So, you wanna come sit in the hot tub with me?”

“Now that sounds good to me. You coming, Daryl?”

“Be right there...it just feels good to be on solid ground,” he groaned.

/

Lisbeth walked out to a second floor covered deck where a hot tub was just beginning to steam and took in the beautiful sight of Merle Dixon in the water before her.

“It's late, and I'm exhausted, but I'm still going to fuck you,” she warned.

“You better,” he winked.

Lisbeth pulled the wig off and unbuttoned her blouse with her eyes never leaving his. She stripped off every stitch of clothing and slipped into the water and into his arms. She sank down onto his lap and felt like she was home. Merle's big arms, the scent of his skin and the obvious hardness right there where she needed it; Lisbeth was in heaven.

The stars and the big moon were shining on the other side of the window, and she nestled her face into his neck for a moment.

“I need you...I never needed anyone before you and Daryl.”

“I need you too, Lis...now we never have to be apart,” he smiled, laying his hands on her back as Daryl entered the deck area.

“Am I intruding?” he asked.

“No, get your ass in here,” Merle insisted.

Daryl stripped off his t-shirt and dropped his pants and boxers like it was nothing, and Merle put up a very weak mental fight trying not to let it turn him on.

Merle claimed Lisbeth's mouth and took her ass in both of his huge hands, rocking her against his rock hard cock as Daryl moved closer. Merle could feel the softness of her womanhood against his dick, and then there was the sensation of Daryl's strong mouth on his neck...life lost all sense of normalcy.

Merle moaned and dug his fingers a little deeper into her ass cheeks. She wasn't taking him inside her, she just rocked herself against him, teasing him to the edge. Positions changed and Lisbeth slid off Merle's lap and took some time to kiss Daryl. With the heat of the water and the way it felt just to touch each other freely, the moment was like something designed by God himself.

Eventually, Merle and Daryl were face to face and body to body, and below the surface of the water, they touched each other. Daryl growled as strong fingers closed around his dick and began a perfect rhythm of stroking...it was wrong, but he couldn't think who it was hurting. They were grown men, and nobody was taking advantage of anyone else, not to mention that it felt incredible.

They leaned their foreheads on the other's shoulders, and the height of heaven was reached as they slowly and sensually jerked each other off.

Daryl hissed and knew he was close to cumming.

“I gotta stop.”

“You OK?”

“Too OK...I'll be done if we don't stop now.”

Lisbeth was just on the other side of the hot tub, and the heat in her eyes said she loved to watch them together.

“Let's go to the bed,” she suggested and stepped slowly out of the water.

Merle, Daryl, and Lisbeth all settled on the larger king size bed in the middle of the room, and Merle pinned Lisbeth to the bed immediately. He licked at her throat, teased her cool, wet breasts with his mouth and urged her legs open beneath him with his knees.

“I'm gonna eat that pussy good,” he groaned.

“Please...take care of me...”

Daryl watched as Merle slid his arms under her open thighs and gripped her legs just above the knees. His cock began to throb almost painfully as Merle's tongue teased her glistening lips apart. Daryl kissed her hard and then moved his attention to her breasts so he could also watch Merle at work.

Merle worked a soft, slow trail from her vagina to her clit and then a gentle nudging of his tongue on her most sensitive spot; Daryl could hardly take it. He was struck then by a potentially sexy idea and decided to just go for it. Why not be experimental?

Daryl got up and walked into the kitchen to grab the small glass jar of maple syrup as he listened to Lisbeth almost falling apart on the bed.

“Merle....oh, God....Mmmm....”

Daryl drizzled a little onto her belly and then licked it off with his hot tongue and Merle grinned when he realized what was going down.

“Taste good?” he winked.

“Delicious.”

Daryl drizzled a little down the inside of her thigh for Merle to try it and Lisbeth giggled and then moaned as Merle bit at her soft flesh.

It was only logical to drip a thin strand of the sweet golden syrup onto her pussy, and Daryl watched as it spread slowly over her perfect lips. It was a moment written in the stars, exquisitely erotic and pure. Merle came at her from between her thighs and Daryl from the side of her waist; they both needed a taste. Lisbeth was met with the most intensely pleasurable sensation as two sets of lips and two tongues claimed her entire flower. She raised up on her elbows to watch, and sure enough, Merle and Daryl were both teasing her pussy, kissing each other, and tasting maple syrup; Canada was good.

Her head fell back at the sight of it, and she pulled her legs further apart needing all of the touch she could receive. It felt almost alien, and their mouths hit every sweet spot at once. Four hands touching and two mouths that knew exactly how to please her, Lisbeth didn't know anything so good was possible.

She reached out her hand to take hold of Daryl's dick as he knelt next to her and jerked him off as her orgasm flooded her core. His moaning added another element of vibration as it coursed through every single cell and she died a little right there.

“Fuck...oh fuck....oh my God! Merle...Daryl...Fuuuuuck!”

Merle watched as she sucked off his brother and he nailed her like tomorrow would never come. The intensity of the interaction was unbridled and addictive. Merle knew he'd never lack sexual satisfaction as long as he lived. She licked slowly up and down Daryl's length and then took him deep, and it's as if Merle could feel the blowjob even as he was fucking her. He cupped her little breasts, and he just couldn't take another second more. Merle came hard and loud, pulling out to cum mostly on his own belly; he wondered if he'd ever walk right again.

Lisbeth didn't miss a beat and rolled Daryl onto his back, straddling his hips and immediately taking him in.

“Ride me good, woman,” he growled, and she went for it with all she had.

Merle was in a half coma as he watched from the other side of the bed, his cock twitching with the lingering release.

Lisbeth road Daryl hard, took short breaks to kiss him, and then continued with her hands on his chest and her eyes burning into his.

/

The morning found them in a sleepy tangle on the bed, silence, and peace filling every corner of the sunlit room.

  


 


	19. I Love You Till The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This felt like the right place to end. There is room for a sequel if people want that bad enough but I like to end stories when the conflict is over instead of dragging it out for not good reason. lol  
> Thank you for taking this odd polyamorous journey with me, I hope you enjoyed it.  
> Teagan xoxox  
> The song is 'I love you till the end' by The Pogues.

_I just want to see you_  
 _When you're all alone_  
 _I just want to catch you if I can_  
 _I just want to be there_  
 _When the morning light explodes_  
 _On your face, it radiates_  
 _I can't escape_  
 _I love you 'till the end_  
  
_I just want to tell you nothing_  
 _You don't want to hear_  
 _All I want is for you to say_  
 _Why don't you just take me_  
 _Where I've never been before_  
 _I know you want to hear me_  
 _Catch my breath_  
 _I love you 'till the end_  
 _I love you 'till the end_

 

* * *

  


_ **Chapter 19 – I Love You Till The End** _

  


Daryl and Merle were up first, and they immediately got the coffee pot going for Lisbeth. Their girl loved her coffee and always wanted it the moment she woke up.

“How the hell did this all happen?” Daryl mused.

“She just walked straight up to me in that shitty bar, and the rest is history.”

“It's so strange, hey? Why us?”

“I could understand you; all the women love you. The part I didn't get was me...why would she ever look twice at me out of all those men in the bar that night?”

“You don't give yourself enough credit; she obviously saw something in you.”

“Maybe, I'm just so glad she chose to speak to me. I never felt this happy in my whole damn life.”

“I take it you're well over Andrea now,” Daryl chuckled.

“Definitely, and lemme tell ya I never thought that would happen.”

“She wasn't the one for you anyway, you look way happier when you're with Lisbeth.”

“She's incredible.”

“She really is. Imagine being as brilliant and beautiful as her and wanting the two of us around,” Daryl joked.

“We sure lucked out,” Merle smiled, looking down at the little sleeping figure on the bed.

“True. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life just trying to make her happy.”

“Same. She deserves that.”

“You wanna take a look at the mountains in the daylight from the deck?” Daryl grinned.

“Hell yes, this place is beautiful...she could have come here without us so easily.”

“I know, she might be a little crazy,” Daryl laughed.

“She can be as crazy as she wants, I love her no matter what.”

“Me too.”

  


Lisbeth waited till she heard them leave the room before smiling a little silent smile to herself.

/

That afternoon, Lisbeth left her men back at the B&B as she collected all the necessary documents for the new house and paid for it with cash.The older woman who was selling it just wanted it gone and didn't care to employ lawyers in the situation.

Lisbeth handed her the massive sum of money and took the keys in a very easy hand off. The woman's husband had been a famous local artist, and the home was one of a kind. The widow selling the home left the place almost completely furnished out of grief. She didn't want to take any of the furniture with her, only the personal items. The new home stood on 10 acres of land and had private access to a dock for fishing on a crystal blue lake. Lisbeth was so excited to show her men that she couldn't wipe the smile from her face all the way back.

She bought an old 4x4 truck, did some shopping for the new house, and arrived back at the B&B to pick them up after lunch.

“I sure hope you like the place I found,” she squirmed as Merle hopped in the driver's seat.

“Lisbeth, I'd live with you in a cardboard box.”

“Me too,” Daryl agreed, reaching over the passenger seat to squeeze her shoulder.

“So where abouts is it?” Merle asked.

“It's way out of the city, about a 30-minute drive from here,” she explained.

They followed the GPS on her phone out into the bush and Daryl looked through the windows as they drove, his interest completely peaked.

“It's really out here isn't it?” Merle noted as she led him through twists and turns in the landscape.

The trees became denser and a lake was visible along the way through hills and little valleys.

“This place is so...perfect,” Daryl sighed.

Eventually, a narrow path appeared to the left and Merle was directed to drive down the dirt path with tall trees lined up on either side. At the end of the path were a concrete driveway and an iron gate. Merle parked up, and Lisbeth got out to punch in a code to get in.

A little further up the concrete driveway, a massive lodge appeared and Daryl frowned in confusion.

“What the hell?”

Merle parked in front of the home and looked over at Lisbeth.

“I'm lost...Lisbeth?”

“This is it,” she smiled and exited the truck.

“She cannot be for real,” Daryl insisted.

“I think she actually is,” Merle sighed as he got out of the vehicle with Daryl.

“Honey...”

“Do you like it?” she asked with a huge grin, handing the keys to Merle. “It's for you.”

“But...”

“There are 10 acres for you to hunt and there's access to a lakefront dock where you can fish...you can be alone in the woods here with Daryl,” she said.

“I've never seen anything like this...and it's so isolated.”

“Is it good?” she asked, obviously desperate to know whether they were happy with it.

“It's just hard to get our heads around, Lis. Nobody ever did anything like this for us...this is too much.”

Lisbeth looked from one to the other and tried to get across to them what she felt inside.

“But...do you like it? I couldn't care less about the money, sometimes I wonder why I even took it...I just wanted to make you happy.”

“We are, honey. This place is just really overwhelming. I was expecting maybe a little cozy cabin and this place looks like...I don't even know,” Merle laughed.

“I was just hoping we could have a life here together, and I want you to have the woods, just like before.”

“We're in, honey,” Daryl smiled, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms.

Finally, they decided to just embrace the incredible moment, and it felt like winning the lottery. Lisbeth led them inside, and they were blown away by the 30-foot ceilings, bear skin rugs, stone fireplace, and old world feel.

“I saw it online and it just felt like you...this place belonged to an artist and his wife. She just wanted to sell quickly so she took cash with no questions asked. It's completely off the grid with geothermal heat and solar energy.”

“I can't believe you did this, Lis,” Merle sighed as he took her hand.

Daryl wandered around and noted that there were 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and it had a huge loft with a skylight so they could see the night sky beyond the trees.

“The truck should be here in a couple of days, but until then we can go into Banff for anything you need,” she explained.

“We're just a couple of nobodies from Georgia...I can't believe you'd bring us to a place this beautiful,” Daryl said a little more seriously.

“You are not nobody, you and Merle are everything to me.”

/

“What was she thinking?” Daryl exclaimed as they began their first walk around the grounds.

“I don't know, but she knows what she wants.”

“She shouldn't have spent all this money on us...she's crazy.”

“Lisbeth doesn't give a shit about the money, Daryl. She just wants to be with us and for all of us to be happy.”

“Yeah? She could have anyone though?”

“She wants us...and maybe I don't deserve her but I'm sure as hell gonna try to be what she needs. If she ever changes her mind I'll just go, but I'll never be sorry I met her and I'll never stop loving her.”

“Maybe that's it, I keep thinking it'll dawn on her that we're just these small town guys who ain't nothing special.”

“I can't say how she'll feel down the line, but right now she loves us and we love her. Just be happy, Daryl.”

“I'm not used to anyone doing this kind of thing for me. Look at all this land! There's deer, caribou, and moose around here and the lake is full of trout...this place is heaven.”

“Lisbeth really listened to us when we told her who we are and brought us to this place with the sole intention of making us happy. Look at her; she's not a backwoods gal at heart. She picked this place for us.”

“I'm gonna owe that woman for the rest of my days,” Daryl smiled, thinking of ways to please her and return the affection.

“I've never loved anyone like I love her.”

“Me neither.”

/

Lisbeth unpacked groceries as Merle and Daryl were walking around the land that was now theirs and she smiled to herself; she was free now. All her life she had longed for the stability that other children took for granted but she had always had to fight, had to run, had to defend herself.

She prayed that this would be the beginning of the rest of her life and that it would be filled with peace. She walked into the master bedroom in the loft and started a fire in the fireplace. Staring into the flames, sitting on the bed and then looking up through the skylight, Lisbeth was home.

She saw Merle coming in as she was pouring a drink at the kitchen counter and unpacking some food.

“Hey hey,” she smiled as he sat down at the kitchen table.

“Daryl's just wandering around in circles out there in a daze...it's adorable,” Merle laughed.

“Do you like the land?”

“Come here,” he insisted, pulling her into his arms and lifting her up to sit on the counter. “I love the land and I love you like crazy, honey.”

Merle pulled her in tight, and she enveloped him in her arms and legs.

“I hope you don't ever let me go...I need these arms,” he said, running his hands down her arms to her hands. “I need your touch; I need this perfect face...I wanna be yours forever, honey.”

Merle touched her cheek and looked deep into her eyes, he fell harder for her every time he looked at her.

“Merle...”

“Am I scaring you? Coming on too strong?” he asked.

“No, it's just that nobody has ever offered me forever before.”

“You don't have to make me any promises, I'm just wishing out loud.”

“I want you forever too.”

“Yeah?” he smiled. “You changed my whole world in that bar, I'll always be so glad you picked me to talk to.”

“It had to be you.”

“Why?”

“You looked dirty and sexy and those eyes...I knew I could trust those eyes.”

Daryl walked in then and was rambling about spotting a doe right outside the house.

“I coulda pet the fuckin' thing! It was so close!” he grinned.

“He's a little like a puppy,” Lisbeth teased. “Come in and put your feet up, I'm making food.”

“Macaroni and hot dogs?” Daryl teased right back. “That actually wasn't half bad.”

“Shut up,” she giggled. “It's real food, just go sit.”

/

That night they all turned in early, life had been exhausting since they met. Lisbeth slithered in between her two men in the king sized bed and realized that after years of hell, she finally had it all.

For once, Merle fell asleep first, and she wrapped her arm around his waist and kissed his back. Moonlight came in through the skylight and poured over them as Daryl pulled her in tightly from behind her.

"Lis?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go for a walk with me in the morning?”

“Sure,” she smiled.

“I wanna teach you to fish and hunt and make love to you out in the woods.”

“We can do all of that now, babe.”

“And Merle too,” he added.

“And Merle too.”

“I wasn't really that scared on the plane.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Yeah...I guess I was.”

“It's OK, Daryl, everyone's scared of something.”

“I'm scared of losing you and Merle.”

“I'm kinda freaked out by big spiders too,” Daryl yawned.

“I'm kinda scared you'll never let me get any sleep,” Merle groaned.

“Alright, alright...good night you two,” Daryl sighed.

“Goodnight, my men.”

“Night y'all.”

 


End file.
